A Clan Reborn
by Avalonforged
Summary: The Uzumaki clan was said to of been destroyed for its seals but what if its destruction was because of something else. How would this something affect the story? Cunning Naruto, Grey Naruto
1. Chapter 1: A History

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

Chapter 1: A history

Fear and Greed, these two aspects of humanity have plagued the human race since its inception. It can drive a good man to commit evil. In this world these feelings have already left their mark.

The Uzumaki Clan was an old clan, existing before the time of the shinobi. They were also an isolated clan, taking up residence on the island of Whirlpool; they stayed there choosing not to interact with outside world, having no interest in the wars of man.

On this island the Uzumaki would establish temples, from which they would gain favor with the God of Death, the Shinigami, and the Shinigami would in exchange for their piety give them a gift. They would be given strong life forces, so that they may live longer. They would be given the power of healing, so that they may recover from their wounds. Finally, they would be given the ability to manipulate their spirit, and from this would be born fuinjutsu. These gifts also came with a price, for when an Uzumaki died, they would serve as reapers for the Shinigami, collecting the souls of the dead and bringing them before the God to be judged.

When Kaguya rose to power and ate the fruit of the Shinju, she enslaved the world and brought peace, but unlike what legend states she did not trap everyone in genjutsu, but only those that opposed her. The Uzumaki did not. When she came to them, asking if they would oppose her right to rule, the Uzumaki sensed her new energy, similar to the Shinigami, they declared her a Goddess, and accepted her as the ruler of the world.

When the Sage of Six Paths rose up in rebellion, the Uzumaki would oppose him, siding with Kaguya, and would eventually be defeated. From their defeat, Kaguya would recognize the threat of her son and transform into the Juubi. But the Sage would learn from stolen Uzumaki works, he would develop a chakra version of fuinjutsu, when he found he could not use the spiritual fuinjutsu the Uzumaki used, and with it he would trap Kaguya. With the war over, he would take a wife, taking an Uzumaki bride in exchange for peace, and secretly to bless his children with their power. But this Uzumaki would be tricky, she would never introduce them to the Shinigami's essence, they would never get access to the Shinigami's gifts.

Years into the future the ninja clans were established and the ninja arts of genjutsu, ninjutsu, and fuinjutsu, were spread. With the samurai arts of taijutsu and kenjutsu adopted by this new class of warriors, these new warriors were coined shinobi. The Uzumaki while still choosing to remain isolated would be declared a shinobi clan rather than a clan of monks due to their knowledge in the ninja art of fuinjutsu. It would also be during this time that the Uzumaki would change, with their defeat at the hands of the Sage many years ago and the rise of chakra users, they too began to train ninjas to guard their homes, but their first duty would always be to the Shinigami, and for this duty they would be rewarded the Shiki Fuin, a seal powered by the God of Death himself.

During the end of the Clan Wars, society would start to settle, the ninjas would seek peace. Hashirama and Madara would go to the Daimyo and declare their loyalty in exchange for the right to found Konoha, a ninja village. With this agreement, the world would once again change, shinobi would seek protection from themselves, and the safety and strength a country could provide. The Daimyo would now have a loyal force of samurai and shinobi to aid their countries in times of conflict. Once again the Uzumaki would be forced to adapt, they would break their isolation, they would examine the shinobi villages, and their high priestess, Mito Uzumaki, would become enamored with the idea of the Will of Fire, she would marry the first Hokage, bringing a much needed alliance in a changed world.

However, in Konoha not all was well; there were suspicions amongst the leaders of the new land. Upon Mito's arrival in Konoha she created the Uzumaki Mask Temple, a temple to the Shinigami. She would also never pay respect to any of the shrines for the Sage of Six Paths an individual's whose existence had become legend and had even become the God of the shinobi people. These actions would cause people to be wary but her husband would soothe their worries. His death and her subsequent visit to the temple for prayer would only make matters worse as the Shinigami was viewed as an evil entity.

Still these worries would be laid to rest, when she healed Tobirama's injuries after his fight with the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumo. These worries would be further soothed when the Uzumaki came to their aid during the First World War, a war in which the armies of the daimyo and various hidden villages clashed for supremacy.

During this time Mito would work closely with Tobirama. He would learn much of the Uzumaki in these studies and through this knowledge develop new jutsu through her aid. Through her help he would learn of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a jutsu that he would recreate, a jutsu that in its original form split the soul of the creator, not just the chakra, and thus would allow the user to learn what the clone learns. Through her knowledge of seals, both ninja and Uzumaki, she would help him develop the hiraishin. Her biggest contribution would be when things started to look bleak for Fire Country, she would introduce Tobirama to her connection to the Shinigami, and through this knowledge they would create the abomination known as the Edo Tensei.

Tobirama would be alarmed, he had always been paranoid of the Uchiha, but there was apparently a threat he had overlooked. The Uzumaki. A clan that was not part of Konoha, a clan that worshipped a different and in his mind, dark God, a clan that could call on the Shinigami himself for aid. He would start to observe the Uzumaki and make a contingency for if they should turn against his people. These thoughts and plans he would keep sealed in the Hokage's vault so that none but his successor could know of them.

However during the war, Tobirama's life would be cut short and he would select Sarutobi Hiruzen as the next Hokage. Sarutobi would discover these notes, he would see their connection to the Shinigami and he would feel fear. Tobirama had never told him of his fears and unlike his predecessor he only knew Mito in passing, in fact the number of Uzumaki he interacted with could be counted on one hand.

These worries would increase as during the war he had served on the frontlines against Kumo, and had the misfortune of meeting the vessels of the Nibi and Hachibi, spawning an interest in jinchuriki. From this knowledge he knew that you could only seal a biju into a baby otherwise the vessel would quickly die and the creature would be released where its vessel perished, but yet the Uzumaki were different. Mito, a full grown woman, had sealed the most powerful of the tailed beasts into her own body with little consequence; she had even outlived two hokages. And now he finds this is not an isolated incident, she had called one Kushina Uzumaki, a girl several years older than a baby to Konoha to be the next container. The Uzumaki, masters of seals, the very things that bind the biju to jinchuriki, did not need to be a baby to seal one of the tailed beasts into their body.

Sarutobi would then remember the God the Uzumaki worshipped, the Shinigami. He would not allow this power to be in the hands of someone outside of the land of Fire, and he most certainly could not allow a clan that worshipped death to have that much power. The world, his people could not survive if maniacs, loyal foremost to their family and the Shinigami, ever gained that power. It was on that day a plan was hatched.

Before all things people are greedy, this is especially true with shinobi and the daimyo, and for so long the Uzumaki had remained powerful on their island of mysteries, wearing fine robes for their worship. The shinobi wanted their power, their life force, and their seals. The Daimyo wanted their land and their treasures. So when Sarutobi came to his lord with the knowledge that the Uzumaki were a threat and worshippers of the Shinigami, he received his permission.

From there Sarutobi got in contact with his old friend Danzo and had him leak the defenses of Whirlpool. The countries that had fought the Uzumaki, wanted vengeance, while those who had fought alongside them envied and desired their power, it was not hard for an alliance to be struck. The greedy people of Lightning and the bloodthirsty people of Water joined together to assault the small island, while the forces of Earth would launch a group of raids on the western side of Fire Country, distracting the supposed ally of Whirlpool. Meanwhile Sarutobi ordered Danzo's root division to station itself near Whirlpool with orders to swoop in once the battle was over and seize the spoils.

The massacre of the Uzumaki would start the Second World War. The alliance spawned from greed would be dashed as the Uzumaki enacted a large scale Shiki Fuin to summon the Shinigami and send their invaders to his stomach while the Uzumaki would take their place as his servants. The survivors of the invasion, those who had already taken artifacts to the boats, would be set upon by Danzo, splitting the artifacts between the ninja forces of Kumo, Kiri, and Konoha. The interference of Konoha and the stealing of the majority of the Uzumaki's artifacts would cause the forces of Water and Lightning to declare war on Fire. While Earth cheated of their share of the prize would find itself declaring war on Lightning and fighting a war against Fire. Fire country, despite being the architect of this incident would be forced into the war when the alliance declared war on them and when the common citizen, those who didn't know of their treachery, called for justice. The war would involve every country, not even allowing Iron to maintain neutrality as they were forced to defend their borders, as countries found themselves battlegrounds, while others sought to take advantage. This war would be thought of as the most devastating of all wars.

Meanwhile, Whirlpool would be sealed, never to be set foot on for many years to come, the bodies unburied, as survivors would tell stories of watching from the boats as people dropped dead on the beach, as if they were puppets and their strings were cut. Its people would know of the treachery of Konoha, as those that managed to flee that day would see as their people were killed by Danzo's men and watch as they fought over the treasures of their family. They would flee away from their treacherous ally, going to countries like Rain and Grass.

As for why this is important, why the legacy of a near dead people affects the world. The Shinigami was not happy. As a God reviled by humanity, and diminished by the Sage of Six Paths, a demigod, he did not have many worshippers. In fact it was common for him to take a priestess after death as a bride for a century or two before moving on, as is the way of the Gods. He did not like it when he was summoned and saw the land of Whirlpool in ruins, did not like honoring the contract, killing his worshippers, though took much relish in taking the souls of the invaders. He watched as his followers fled across the world, how they still held firm in their worship and how they were persecuted. For this he ordered that all who were citizens of the countries that destroyed his worshippers' home would suffer on the battlefield, that even those who might have been saved to be collected by his reapers and sent to an early grave. This decision would cause Tsunade to gain her fear of blood as she failed to save her lover Dan and Orochimaru's obsession with immortality when his parents died.

It was after the Third World War that something changed. The Shinigami was being summoned, by someone he had not given his blessing to, but still he came if only because of curiosity. It is here that the world changed, a man was presenting an Uzumaki baby with blonde hair to him, asking him to seal the Kyubi into him, asking him to seal half of the Kyubi into his son. In front of the man, was amazingly another Uzumaki using her spirit, the same thing the Uzumaki used to power their seals, to hold the Kyubi in place, a worshipper of him, one whose soul was about to pass.

Now what should be known is that the Shinigami is honor bound to respect the rules of life and death, that his contract is binding. It should also be known that Gods are forbidden from interfering in the affairs of mortals passed a certain point. His policy on taking the souls of those close to death from the countries of Earth, Fire, Lightning, and Water, already came close to breaking these rules. While these rules are also what stopped him from smiting all who hurt his worshippers, his servants, if only to avoid a war of the Gods.

However, it should also be noted that the Shinigami Contract that summons him to this plane allows him to interfere in mortal affairs. It should also be noted that said contract has fine print written into it. He only had to answer the request of an Uzumaki, this man was not. So looking at the baby, he decided to interfere.

First he grabbed the soul of the Kyubi, the whole soul, and started to drag it from its body. It struggled of course, but it was just a fragment, a fifth of a fallen God, against a whole God it stood no chance, perhaps if he was doing as the mortal asked and split the Kyubi, it could have lashed out, but it had no time. Dragging the Kyubi's soul into the baby he sealed it, the Shiki Fuin imprinting on the baby' stomach.

"What are you doing? I said to seal half into my son." The blonde man questioned.

"**Silence"** He says annoyed with the interruption and with but a word the soul of the annoyance left his body and traveled into his mouth.

"**Uzumaki… Kushina, you shall live this night."** he says, pausing to remember the name of his follower before interfering once more, taking the ails of death from her body and allowing his blessing to heal her, while taking a small portion of her soul.

Despite the pain she inclines her head. "Thank you Shinigami-sama. I am honored for this chance with my child."

Absently nodding he approached the child, taking note of the blonde hair, he flicks his hand, the color turning red, removing all nonessential genes of the man that summoned me. The baby will be a pure Uzumaki, the Shinigami saw no reason to sully him with what he believed to be inferior genetics. Now to bless him.

"**Young one, you have been gifted with a burden but it can also be a great strength. You shall walk with me in death and serve as a reaper once your time has passed. But here on this plane you are my representative, and by proxy as you shall support me in death I shall support you in life. This is my blessing, this is our pact."** He intones, giving the babe the power of healing, the ability to use his soul for the special fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan, and the longevity of his followers.

The baby glowed as his blessing sunk in. Still there was more to do. Gliding his hand over the baby's stomach he applied one more seal, a soul catcher, imbuing it with the soul of Uzumaki Kushina, so that if she should perish her soul will go to her son. She shall be with her son, regardless of the machinations of these treacherous mortals.

Feeling the air change he can tell his time is almost up. For the price of this contract he cannot stay long, already the Gods are noticing but that is fine, he will be done in seconds, only one last thing to do. Pointing his finger down he opened the babe's soul, laying it bare before him, and whispered to him. **"You will come to the Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple when the time is right"**

With those words he takes his finger from the baby's soul and leaves, fading back to his domain in the afterlife. The boy will go to the temple, the location engraved into his soul, he shall feel the urge to put on his mask, and he shall tell him of his clan and of the treachery of humans. He will be the Uzumaki resurgent and unite his followers once more, and if perhaps he shall desire revenge on those who harmed his family, then all the better.

With the baby, the female Uzumaki, Kushina, picked up her son as he began to cry. By her side was her dead lover, and secret husband. Leaning her head down, she nuzzles his face. "Its okay, Naruto, mommy's here."

**I hope you enjoyed the prologue to my story. I am a long time reader of fanfiction, particularly Naruto fanfiction and this is my first story so reviews whether criticism or compliment are encouraged and helpful. Just some warnings I do not like certain characters and I will try not to have that bleed into my writing, so there will be no bashing (even of Sasuke). Also despite the intro involving a God this is not a godlike Naruto fanfic, he will struggle and fail, as well as succeed.**

**Pairings, couldn't tell you because I am unsure who would fit what I have in mind for him just yet, but there will be a relationship, but it will be gradual and may surprise even me. As I write feel free to write your opinions of who will fit this version of Naruto the best.**

**Finally, please pass along your feelings of this story, I personally will try to update often and can guarantee you something about once every two weeks, with either this length to double it each chapter. So let's hope this is a start of a great journey together.**


	2. Chapter 2: Aftermath

I have edited this chapter and fixed the errors as of 4/7/15 and learned never to post something so late at night. Please enjoy this new chapter of A Clan Reborn.

So not sure if I have to say this each chapter, but I do not own Naruto, said fictional universe belongs to its creator Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

So I wasn't planning on updating so quickly but I noticed some mistakes in my writing and it bothered me. It should also be noted that I fixed Chapter 1, and made it fully third person perspective.

Chapter 2: Aftermath

It was over. The Kyubi attack is over. Staring into the eyes of my son I roll over the chain of events that had happened. A weird masked man had ruined the moment of my son's birth by showing up, killing my guards and threatening to kill my him. If that was not enough, he then pulled the Kyubi from my seal, nearly destroying my chakra network, before ordering the damned fox to kill me, only for me to be saved. Then my husband, though secret, sacrificed his soul to summon my god, the Shinigami. Then my lord sealed the fox into my son and rewarded my loyalty by saving my life and letting me watch over my son, even giving him my red hair. All in all, a long night, my son is a jinchuriki, my husband is dead, and I met the God of Death.

Widening my eyes I remember that the Shinigami healed me. Looking down, over my baby boy nestled in my arms; I can see my injuries are healed. Thinking quickly, I flare my chakra and receive the pleasant surprise of working chakra coils. I will be able to train my son; I will be able to protect my son. Truly the powers of a god are not to be underestimated.

The flare did attract attention, my Uzumaki life force and spiritual connection to the Shinigami having given us the famed but false Uzumaki bloodline attribute of large amounts of chakra. So it was no surprise when two people appeared in the clearing in black bodysuits and white masks on their faces, while an older man flanked by two more masked men brought up the rear.

"Kushina, you're alive!?" The older man asked. The man is wearing an old fashioned ninja outfit, something more commonly worn during the Clan Wars Era. His face is wrinkling and his hair is mostly grey, his age beginning to show. He is slightly battered and carries a deceiving staff over his shoulder, a staff that was really the monkey king, Enma. This is Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Yes, but Minato-kun didn't make it. Can one of you seal him for me, I do not want to disturb little Naruto?" I ask, choosing to believe that Sarutobi's statement was joy at my surviving and not a question of how I was still alive when he is one of the people that knew I am the Kyubi jinchuriki… was the Kyubi jinchuriki.

"Of Course." Turning towards one of the ANBU he continues. "Kuma seal the Hokage's body."

The ANBU, Kuma, stepped forward removing a scroll from his side. Likely he was the leader of this squad, as each ANBU squad carried one sealing scroll on hand and the captain is usually the one charged with the responsibility.

Once he reached my husband, he unrolled the scroll and placed it on his body, before going through several hand seals and pressing down on the center of the scroll. Minato disappeared into the roll of paper, a symbol appearing on the scroll to show where he now resided.

"Come; let us go back to Konoha." Despite Hiruzen's gentle speech pattern, the ANBU set a perimeter around me, two in front, two in back, with Hiruzen by my side. This was an escort.

As we walked, he turned to me. "So is he the jinchuriki?"

For a second I consider lying, saying that I was again the container, that that was why I was still alive, after all to my knowledge there had never been a case where a vessel had their biju taken from their body and survived. Perhaps I could have used the excuse of our non-existent bloodline, say that it had kept me alive long enough for Minato and I to seal the Kyubi back into my seal. But I discard it, while chakra sensors were rare and knowledge of fuinjutsu even rarer; it would have been a simple matter for them to notice the lack of said creature in my body. Not considering that a medical checkup for my son would quickly reveal the seal, and the chakra of the beast inside.

"Yes. The creature my clan has kept for this village has been locked away, Sarutobi-sama." I quickly add the sama suffix to his name knowing that this is not a conversation between acquaintances like when Minato was Hokage, but a conversation between myself and what is undoubtedly my next leader. By adding the suffix he will know that I have chosen to support him.

A lifesaving move, for while I believe him to be a good man, the temptation of a jinchuriki unaligned with any clan and malleable might outweigh my own life. However the temptation of a loyal ex-jinchuriki teaching the current should spare my life if my fear should be true.

Sarutobi seems to nod, before we continue our walk in silence. An uneasy silence, made worse when we reached what used to be the main gate of Konoha. To be frank, Konoha is a mess. The main gate and much of the surrounding wall is collapsed, shinobi already working to clear the rubble. Further in, the barracks that housed the forces to protect the gate is gone, the bodies of various shinobi scattered amongst the remains. Past this the training grounds have been decimated leaving a clear path into the clan districts, where the Kyubi had apparently been stalled if the damage is to be believed. From there the merchant district suffered heavy damage and a heavy feeling of the toxic chakra of the Kyubi remains, something that will poison the area for some time. That was likely the area where the Kyubi fired its bijudama.

Looking over at Sarutobi I see his face harden. He had lost his wife to this attack, and now he looked upon a ruined village. Konoha's military is weakened, its gate is destroyed, the clans have been weakened, and finally its economy would take years to recover. There would be a lot of hatred for anything related to the Kyubi. _"Time to make an ally"_

"Sarutobi-sama, the village will need a leader. I cannot be it, despite my studies for it, and my closeness to the previous Hokage, I am no experienced and I now have Naruto to take care of. The people will need someone they can trust, someone who has lead them through troubled times before. They will need you Hokage-sama… I apologize, I mean Sarutobi-sama." I say this with as much vigor as I can.

The title of Hokage might have been my dream, but I have a family to take care of, and my connection to the Kyubi will easily allow any detractors to rally support to their cause, and see me overthrown. No I will need to gain the trust of the next Hokage, and Sarutobi is likely to be it. I will need his protection for my son, especially since several shinobi have seen me return from where the Kyubi disappeared with a baby in my hands, they will know that there is a jinchuriki, and they will assume the vessel is the child in my arms. No, the secret of who's the jinchuriki will be known to not just the people of Konoha, but to the world. I will need the ANBU to make sure my son survives, and Sarutobi can give me them.

"I see. Then I shall assume I have your support... Kushina-dono, your support will be appreciated during the council meeting, it shall be taking place in an hour, make the appropriate arrangements."

"Yes Sarutobi-sama." I smile as I walk off. While Sarutobi had caught on to my political maneuvering, he had acknowledged it and agreed to accept my olive branch. He knew I would be helpful in the coming meeting. After all, people seemed to have forgotten that like my husband I too studied to become Hokage, a position not just about strength but about words, politics. They seemed to assume that I knew nothing of Minato's position, they could not be more wrong, while Minato was Hokage, I was his advisor at home, I saw how he played the game in person during meetings with the nobility. Yes, Sarutobi knows I am a good ally, a dark horse often overlooked due to my younger years but I knew the game well.

It did not take me long to grab Kakashi, a loyal student of my husband's and a friend of the family to watch Naruto at my home in the Uzumaki district, a series of properties that were bought by Mito during the early days of Konoha, and that I expanded into a whole district during Minato's reign. Once there I grabbed my ninja outfit, the standard uniform for a jonin and put it on, making sure that the blood on my face stayed, a sign that I fought alongside the fourth Hokage against the Kyubi, a show of strength. Turning I looked at the hidden seal in the design at the top of a full body mirror, and grab some key items. Taking a quick look into the mirror as well, I nod before putting my best stern face on and activate the security in the house, now no one can get in and those inside, cannot access the house's secrets unless already keyed into the seal. Of which only I am the only current living person that the seal will recognize. My baby and Kakashi will be safe.

Getting to the bunker underneath the Hokage's tower where council meetings were held was a simple affair. The ANBU easily recognized me as the Uzumaki Clan head and knew of the meeting about to take place. Once inside I took my seat amongst the other clan heads and elders. Without a leader we would not have to stand until the Hokage arrived. There also wouldn't be any civilians at the meeting tonight. Not for this vote.

While civilians do have a say in the government of this village, they do not have a say in the election of the Hokage. The Hokage is the leader of Konoha and the leader of all ninja forces in Fire Country. This makes the Hokage a moderate noble amongst the Daimyo's court, equal to the leader of the samurai forces of our country, and only lower in rank than the Daimyo and their family. Usually the next Hokage is selected by both the Daimyo and the current Hokage but in times of emergency, either the Hokage or if the Hokage is unavailable the shinobi part of the council may select a temporary Hokage to be considered later by the Daimyo. A formality as the Daimyo keeps a close watch on the council and is often in an amicable relationship with the Hokage, and thus trusts our decision.

Taking in the council I observe who arrives and more importantly who doesn't. The Hyuga clan head Hiashi Hyuga appears to be fine, and settled, his face unreadable. He is an old player in the game of politics, raised from birth to assume the role.

The Aburame clan appears damaged, its head changed as an old academy classmate, Shibi Aburame stands in as clan head. This would be his first meeting and despite being the clan heir, now head, he has little experience. His influence will be little and due to the nature of the Aburame is unlikely to contribute, only listen to the arguments and pick the most logical choice.

The Akimichi clan has their current leader Choshi Akimichi, an old man who has been part of the council since I was a little girl. He has stubbornly refused to pass his seat to his son Choza. Unlike his son who takes after his wife, he is not a gentle giant, often wanting a more 'final' solution to problems. However, he is pragmatic and with Konoha in such a sorry state it shouldn't be hard to win his support.

The next is the Inuzuka Clan being represented by Tsume Inuzuka. She is not the clan head, that would be her husband, but the story behind that is easy to see in her demeanor, her husband had either been killed in the attack or crippled. She has zero experience with these meetings and has never had interest in being a clan head, choosing to turn down the position and give it to her husband. According to her, she is 'too blunt for politics'. Her emotional state will make her a wild factor in this meeting.

The Kurama clan didn't show up, a messenger passing along a message stating that their clan compound had been in the Kyubi's path and that their leadership is currently unknown. A sad prospect as the Kurama clan is or rather was one of our bigger clans. For this meeting it is rather good, their views on politics being much like Danzo's, a more recent addition to the village elders and a former ANBU commander.

The Nara clan is represented by Shikaku Nara, a seemingly lazy individual who became clan head when most members of our class were still chunin. Seemingly with no ambition, he has been an advisor to two Hokages, and was even the head strategist during the campaign against Earth Country during the last war. He was even a candidate for Hokage during the last selection despite not having the power of the other two candidates, Orochimaru and Minato, on account of his intelligence. If he should develop an ambition he will be my most dangerous opponent. This is not helped by his views on politics being unknown, choosing the best solution and not always a moral decision, my son may not be free with him in command.

The Sarutobi clan of course is represented by the Hiruzen Sarutobi, a former Hokage and the candidate for Hokage that I am backing. Next to him would have been the Senju clan but ever since Tsunade walked out of Konoha at the end of the Second World War, the Senju seat has remained unoccupied. Only the mercy of Sarutobi due to his past as her teacher, political favors from various nobles, and the fact she does not leave Fire Country stopping her from being declared a traitor.

The Shimura clan occupied the next seat but remained empty, its vote being given to Danzo Shimura, an elder of the village. Normally, you are not allowed more than one vote but with the state of Konoha after this attack the Shimura clan decided to allow their old clan leader to act as proxy until such time as they have recovered from the Kyubi attack. With no Hokage to contest this and the murky area of clan business, this has been allowed for this meeting. Sadly this means a rival of my candidate already has two votes, equaling my own and the Sarutobi clan's.

The Uchiha clan representative is Fugaku Uchiha, a wild card in this selection, but not a candidate for Hokage. As I walked the streets to the tower I could already hear rumors of how the Uchiha may have been behind the attack. Of how Madara Uchiha could supposedly control the Kyubi, complete nonsense if you ask me, but I wasn't alive at the time. The masked man also attempted to control the Kyubi but I doubt it worked, he may not have realized it but the Kyubi has dreamed of Konoha's destruction since it first got sealed into Mito all those years ago. Either way, it would take a coup for an Uchiha to become Hokage anytime soon.

The final clan is the Yamanaka Clan, represented by Inoichi Yamanaka. Part of the Ino-Shika-Cho, he would support his old partner Shikaku to become Hokage. His views since his daughter was born have been geared solely towards peace, wanting nothing to endanger his princess, a sentiment I can understand and appreciate. While he currently clashes with the clan head of the Akimichi, their old ally, the clan heir of the Akimichi is an old friend and shares his view. While not a power block vote at the moment, in the not far future they will have a three vote alliance. It would be wise not to alienate myself from them.

The next are the elders, they are ninja that have survived wars and are trusted by the Hokage. The current elders were chosen by Sarutobi, even the most recent elder, Danzo. Minato in his close to two years in office would never get around to replacing the current elders. Besides Danzo, the other elders are Koharu and Homura, both members of Sarutobi's team. They are pragmatic and see jinchuriki as weapons but may be split in their support between Danzo and Sarutobi, both powerful leaders.

Any others in the room would be for testimony, advice, or opinions. All together there are a total of fifteen votes in this council. If there was a Hokage there would also be a Hokage vote which counts as three votes. However, with the Kurama clan abstaining and the Senju clan gone we only have thirteen.

I only need to get a majority of the clans to vote for Sarutobi to win. Four of these votes are already decided, mine and the Sarutobi going to the third Hokage, and both of Danzo's votes to himself. That leaves ten up for grabs, plus however many go to Shikaku when not if he is nominated.

"I shall start this council meeting, as the predecessor to the late Hokage this is my right and duty. Today we have suffered a terrible tragedy. The Kyubi no Kitsune, strongest of the tailed beasts has attacked our home and our loved ones. All of us here can feel their lose and have lost someone we hold dear. Sadly we cannot yet grieve, our enemies are watching, our home is vulnerable, and without a Hokage we may be inviting war. It is for this reason we sit here, we must choose a leader." Sarutobi begins taking a position of power by stating his former position and establishing himself as chairman of the council in one fell swoop. As expected of a former Hokage.

Looking around the room the Hokage continues. "To that note I shall now open the table to nominations. Think carefully on whom you choose, not only will they be the leader of Konoha, but they will be in charge of every ninja in Fire Country and will lead them in times of war, also a Hokage will have routine interactions with the royal family. All candidates must be both strategic and diplomatic, so once again choose carefully."

"I nominate Shimura, Danzo." Bellowed the loud voice of Choshi Akimichi.

"I nominate Nara, Shikaku." Inoichi states.

"I nominate Uzumaki, Kushina." Fugaku contributes.

"I nominate Sarutobi, Hiruzen" I speak.

Waiting a few moments for more nominations, Sarutobi clears his throat. "Since I have been nominated for Hokage, I shall transfer chairmanship of this council to Hyuga, Hiashi, so as to avoid an abuse of power."

"I shall accept this honor and uphold the honor of this council and the integrity of the title of Hokage." Hiashi states formally as he takes over chairmanship of the council. A powerful choice to give the position to as the Hyuga will appreciate the show of trust. Already in Hiashi's mind he can see a favorable relationship with Sarutobi if he is willing to turn over chairmanship of a Hokage election to him.

As for the nominations, I am slightly surprised at the open disagreement between the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans. It would not have been absurd to have assumed that they had talked in the time before the council and agreed on a candidate; still I expected a little conflict. No what truly surprised me was the Uchiha clan nominating me for the position. While I am not surprised to be nominated, being a powerful kunoichi, a friendly person, and knowledgeable of politics, I did not expect the Uchiha clan to be the one to do so. Perhaps there is enough reason to worry about the rumors of the Uchiha being behind the attack, enough that they want an ally on the seat of power. My relationship with Mikoto, Fugaku's wife is not a secret after all.

"Now we shall give the nominators a chance to state their reasons, then the nominees shall state whether they believe themselves qualified for the job. Due to the nature of the disaster we are facing, we shall not be taking a recess nor shall we allow for deliberation. The vote must take place at the end of this meeting. Also, until such time as we have a leadership, discussions on the reconstruction of Konoha will be put on hold until a later meeting. Are we in agreement?" Hiashi mandates, setting down the rules of the election.

"Hai" Was the collective response. We all knew what is at stake. If Konoha cannot produce a new kage and soon, the shinobi forces in our country will be leaderless, leaving our nation vulnerable to our opportunistic neighbors.

"The time table has been acknowledged. Akimichi, Choshi please explain your selection." Hiashi requests.

"I shall keep this brief as we all want to be home. Konoha is vulnerable and as such the land of Fire is vulnerable. Our enemies will not come with samurai armies or engage our teams during missions, no they will come with sabotage and assassins, doing their best to break our economy and destroy our leadership. Then they will attack and we shall be left defenseless."

"The reason I nominated Danzo-dono is because we need our forces ready for these actions. The shinobi stationed here in Konoha are diminished and we will not recover our numbers so quickly, but Shimura-dono used to command the ANBU, he knows how such forces think and he knows how to use small numbers, numbers we currently have, to accomplish an objective. For our immediate safety we must elect Shimura, Danzo the fifth Hokage." Choshi explains, his words entrapping the other two elders, their heads already nodding to his words.

"Next, Yamanaka, Inoichi. Why have you elected Nara, Shikaku?" Hiashi asks.

"I look around this room and I see our choices, two men that are past their prime, and a woman. While I have nothing against Shimura-dono or Sarutobi-done, the other nations shall view it as a lack of kage level shinobi. It is also sad but true that most shinobi do not live to their fifties, not ones that have served where they have, and those that do, do not live past their sixties. Electing them will be a temporary fix, one maybe five years later we will have to address. The other nations will view an opportunity if we have cycle through leaders again so soon."

"Then our other choice is a woman. There has never been a female kage and while I have nothing against Kushina as a person, the other nations still look down on females. Yes we know of Kushina, she is a powerful warrior, one of the strongest in our village, and the world still remembers the power of Tsunade, the weakest of the sannin. But at the end of the day, the election of a woman will invite attack. It is sadly the perception of our world."

"I nominated Nara-dono because of several reasons. One is his age, with his election we shall have a Hokage for many years to come, one young enough that our children will be ones to debate on the next Hokage. The other is his strategic knowledge. Nara-dono is one of the most dangerous strategists in the elemental nations, known for outmaneuvering forces three times his own and decimating them. Such a man would silence the other nations, for none would want to fight such a man on his home turf. The final reason for picking him is because he is a balance between Sarutobi-dono's and Shimura-dono's ways, balancing aggression with diplomacy, as has been shown numerous times in this very council room. This balance will lead us away from war, warding off our enemies but not instigating a conflict, one that will involve our children." Inoichi's impassioned if not aggravating speech attracts its followers, the Aburame and a reluctant Inuzuka, the children part grabbing her support.

Allowing a moment for the Yamanaka's words to settle Hiashi turns to Fugaku. "Uchiha, Fugaku please give your reasons for why you nominated Uzumaki, Kushina."

"I will admit that I am being partly selfish in my nomination, it is no secret that Uzumaki-dono is a friend to my family. However this friendship has allowed me to get to know her. She is an intelligent woman, knowing the most complicated of ninja arts, fuinjutsu. My wife and I saw as she fought in the war and how it affected her, watched as she increased the Uzumaki properties into a whole district, and have seen her strength."

"I have watched her grow from a foreign orphan into a successful member of our society. She knows our ways and is both merciful and vengeful when appropriate. The Daimyo and his family know her, just as they know Sarutobi-dono, as she served as advisor and confidant to the Hokage during the fourth Hokage's reign. Let us not forget how during the Second World War, when the public cried for vengeance for the people of Whirlpool, the Daimyo used her to help propaganda during the war, meeting with her between several war rallies. None of the candidates are closer to the Daimyo's family, the heirs to the throne."

"Finally there is her lineage with the Senju to consider. By her legacy she is indirectly related to two of our Hokages. The acknowledgement of this lineage will soothe the people putting something familiar into power. Kushina herself is young and from a clan famous for their longevity and healing, with her as Hokage we could see an unprecedented stability in our leadership and while not a strategist of Shikaku-dono's level, she is still quite feared on the battlefield."

"In summation I believe that her familiarity with the current leaders of the world through her experience as the confidant and advisor to the late Hokage should be considered. As should her power and lineage connecting her to the first two Hokages." Fugaku concludes. His words seem to have affected the elder Homura the most, as well as the Nara clan head. If I actually wanted to be Hokage at this time I would have to thank him.

"And finally, Uzumaki, Kushina why do you think Sarutobi, Hiruzen should be Hokage?" Hiashi finally turns to address me.

"I believe Sarutobi-dono should be the Hokage for several simple reasons. One is that Sarutobi-dono has already been Hokage and was Hokage longer than any two Hokages combined. During this time he faced many turbulent moments, perhaps the most was taking command of a tired shinobi force after the second Hokage died during the Second World War. Yet he still led us to victory. Another turbulent time is one all of my fellow councilmen are familiar with, as we all fought during it, the Third World War. Even then Sarutobi-dono would lead us to victory, whether we faced ninja or samurai or even jinchuriki, we would survive, and we would persevere."

"Look around Konoha, our walls have been torn asunder, barracks have been shattered, clans decimated, and even the civilian quarter lies in ruins. This is not the time for a new leader, it is a time for a successful leader, and Sarutobi-dono has been just that."

"The truth is that we need a leader, a tested leader. You speak of the new blood and how it would be temporary, then let it be temporary, let him establish us once more. He can train his successor, take us as advisors, as generals, and when he steps down, he will know who is better for the job. That is why I believe Sarutobi-dono should be our leader in these desperate times, it is because he has been here, and he has succeeded, can any others say the same?" I finish my impassioned speech with a solemn note, catching many of my councilors up in the emotion; something I had learned from Minato, sometimes you did not need fancy words, you just needed passion, and people that will listen that will feel it, and then they will get swept up in it. Right now they are remembering the days of glory under Sarutobi, days we want to keep.

Hiashi pauses and collects himself before addressing the council once more. "You have heard the reasons for nomination; now let us hear from the candidates themselves. We shall start with Shimura, Danzo."

"Konoha is vulnerable, it has lost its protection and has been brought into the light. The shinobi of our village have lost their appearance of invincibility, and like the samurai who die on the open field, we have been exposed as mortal. If I am elected I shall get us back our mysticism, put a legend out there that only the mightiest demons of Hell can harm us. We shall retreat into the shadows; we shall counter our enemies and eliminate those who threaten our homes. We will be feared and most of all we shall be left in peace." Well that was haunting and the peace statement at the end was something I never truly expected Danzo to say, as he often says 'there is always a war going on, it is his job to keep it silent'. However, it is clear that if he is elected we shall become the assassins of lore once more, no more escort missions or D rank missions, an interesting prospect.

"Nara, Shikaku please state why you should be elected."

"After hearing the words of those who have spoken before me, I have decided that I will not accept my nomination to the Hokage seat. Instead I shall vote with Uzumaki-dono. Uchiha-dono is right she is the prime candidate, while at the same time Uzumaki-dono is right in that Sarutobi-dono is a proven leader. If Sarutobi-dono should win then as Uzumaki-dono has stated I shall offer myself as his advisor while Uzumaki-dono can be his general. I shall see what my chosen candidate thinks. Since if I trust Uzumaki-dono enough to be Hokage, then so to must I trust her judgment on who should lead." Shikaku says giving his endorsement to either Sarutobi or myself. I did not realize I had this much influence. Perhaps a contingency plan is in order. If Sarutobi turns out to be untrustworthy, then maybe an alliance can be made. One I can use to protect my son.

"Uzumaki, Kushina would you give this council the reasons for why we should elect you? Hiashi continues with the proceeding after Shikaku's pledge of support to my cause.

"I too would like to withdraw my nomination for Hokage. I believe the fourth Hokage would have wanted Sarutobi-dono to be the next Hokage. After all I should know best, Minato-kun was my husband." There were shouts of surprise and a call for order as I quickly pulled the paper I took from the seal in my mirror out.

"What I hold in my hand is proof of my marriage to Minato-kun, witnessed by Jiraiya of the Sannin, Sarutobi-dono, Hatake Kakashi, and the Fire Daimyo himself, Koshiro Nobunaga. With this document I can say with confidence that I would know my husband's wishes best, that he would want Sarutobi-dono to be the next Hokage." I laugh slightly in my mind. It might have caused a little chaos but tradition states that the Hokage elects the next Hokage. What I had just done was throw doubt onto their choices and now there was no chance for a rebuttal. In the back of their minds they will think about how I, the wife of the previous Hokage, the one who knew him best, had stated he would choose Sarutobi. Now all Sarutobi had to do was give a few convincing words and he shall once again be Hokage.

"Thank you Namikaze..." Hiashi begins before I interrupt him.

"Uzumaki. Minato-kun took my name, as of the two of us, I was the one with a clan. Minato-kun's name was legally Uzumaki, Minato." I state before I officially lose my clan name while also declaring a former hokage as a member of my clan. It was true, Minato had married into my clan since there wasn't a Namikaze clan, just like a civilian would marry into the Hyuga clan.

"Yes, thank you Uzumaki-dono. Now Sarutobi, Hiruzen please state why you should become Hokage."

"I believe I should retake my duties as Hokage because I believe I can bring stability and prosperity to Konoha once more. I believe that with your help, I will make us the strongest shinobi village once more. All I ask is that you put your faith in me just as your fathers did decades ago. Minato-sama was a good Hokage and he would have wanted you to be safe, let me give you that safety. The same safety I gave years ago." With Sarutobi's words the debate was over. It was now time to vote.

"You have heard the reasoning and from the candidates themselves. I shall now go around and ask each representative of their selection. You shall state their clan name if they have one when it is your turn to vote. After the vote has concluded, we shall have our new kage." Hiashi says, giving the directions for how the voting shall go.

"The Aburame clan votes for Shimura-dono."

"The Akimichi clan votes for Shimura-dono."

"The Inuzuka clan votes for Sarutobi-dono."

"The Nara clan votes for Sarutobi-dono."

"The Sarutobi clan votes for Sarutobi."

"Both my Shimura clan vote and my elder vote go to Shimura."

"The Uchiha clan votes for Sarutobi-dono."

"The Uzumaki clan votes for Sarutobi-dono"

"The Yamanaka clan votes for Sarutobi-dono"

"My elder vote goes to Shimura-dono" Koharu votes.

"My elder vote goes to Sarutobi-dono" Homura votes.

"The Hyuga clan votes for Sarutobi-dono. Concluding this election, with five votes for Shimura-dono and eight votes for Sarutobi-dono, Sarutobi-dono is now the temporary Hokage. As per the code of this council, chairmanship shall go over to Sarutobi-sama."

"Thank you for once again choosing me as your Hokage. I shall strive to repay your trust with excellence. Now for our first order of business, go home, mourn for your loses, hold your loved ones, and burn your dead. Tomorrow we shall rebuild." With those words Sarutobi stood up and dismissed us.

With a tired sigh and a crack of my back I stood up, sore and ready for bed, but Sarutobi signaled me to stay. "Hokage-sama." I greet.

"Uzumaki-dono, just know that your loyalty today is noticed." This was all Sarutobi said but he needn't say anymore.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." I say with a slight smile on my face. For now it seems that ploy has worked. My son will be safe.

It did not take me long to reach the Uzumaki District and thank Kakashi for watching my son. It took less for me to curl up with Naruto on the bed. It was as I watched him that I finally allowed the day to catch up to me, all that I had lost, all of my exhaustion, and what I had gained.

"_I will miss you Minato-kun, but Shinigami-sama will take you to a better place, you shall go to paradise. For now my love until we meet again, I will protect our son" _With that final thought I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

**I was surprised with how quickly I received a positive response for my story, much less how many have looked at it and read it. So I was inspired to write the next chapter ahead of schedule.**

**Truthfully this chapter was originally going to have more Naruto in it as he is my main character and begin his story as a child but it evolved into a lot of Kushina time. Also to address the concern stated in one of my reviews, Kushina did love Minato. As for the Shinigami the reason for his actions is that he is very possessive, and since Uzumakis are the only humans that worship him and he is possessive of said worshippers, he only likes Uzumakis.**

**Next Chapter will have Naruto in it and you will start to see more of the character I have planned out. As a quick note, this is not a Bleach crossover.**


	3. Chapter 3: Suspicion

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**I am enjoying writing and it seems that my story is attracting interest though I wished I had more reviews. Anyway I am thinking of looking into getting a beta. **

**For now here is the next chapter of A Clan Reborn.**

Chapter 3: Suspicion

With the election of Sarutobi, Hiruzen to assume the title of Hokage once more Konoha quickly found its way onto the path of reconstruction. The third Hokage would contact the Daimyo and receive permission to conscript samurai from the army to help with their rebuilding, getting the wall rebuilt in a matter of months through a combination of ninjutsu and manpower. While the garrison for its defense would be swelled by the addition of members of the Hyuga clan, their bloodline allowing those on the wall to spot and respond quickly to intrusions despite the limited man power in the area.

During this time the genin and the civilians would rebuild the civilian quarter, reestablishing the stores, businesses, and banks. There would also be changes to the area, the grocery stores that were exposed to the Kyubi's chakra were burned and the food disposed of. All ninjas with knowledge of fuinjutsu were called in, tasked with removing the Kyubi's presence from the area, they succeeded, partially. The chakra stayed but no longer in worrying amounts and would disperse in a decade or so. However food was no longer allowed to be sold in the area and backdoor agreements were made to move the grocery stores to appropriate locations and replacing the abandoned area with blacksmiths, specifically those who used chakra metal in the hopes that the metal would absorb part of the Kyubi's power.

As for the clans, they too did their part. The Akimichi carried the needed stone and were great builders. The Aburame wove, creating clothes and shelter for those without, while rebuilding their hives to replace what was lost. The Hyuga as previously stated were guards for the village and also monitored the Kyubi chakra informing the workers when an area was safe. The Inuzuka hunted, bringing food to the village. The Kurama clan would act as healers showing that they used their control over their chakra for more than just genjutsu. The Nara and Yamanaka clans worked together, creating salves and potions, the Nara from their deer, and the Yamanaka from their gardens, serving relief for both a strained medical force and for the citizens of their village afflicted by Kyubi's chakra. The Sarutobi and Shimura clans would help with the rebuilding and volunteer their members for any missions they could, working themselves to exhaustion. The Uchiha clan would establish order conscripting every member into the military police and enforcing a curfew. As for the lone Uzumaki family, Kushina between watching over her son would reinforce the new wall with seals, making the hastily constructed barrier strong.

This road to recovery would not be without its troubles. Kushina had been right; the secret about her son's status would not be a secret for long, the people knew there was a jinchuriki. Few understood fuinjutsu and its complexity and even those that did knew the terror a jinchuriki could bring from previous conflicts. The people were worried, the people were scared, and they called for action.

Sarutobi responded to these fears with acknowledgement, proclaiming Uzumaki, Naruto a hero for holding back the Kyubi, but was met with fear and shouts of protest. It would be during a council meeting that the matter was settled. Naruto's identity would be kept secret from the younger generation in the hope that the friendship between the younger generation and their jinchuriki would foster loyalty to the village. During this time Kushina had to reveal her own previous status so as to keep custody of Naruto as the elders desired control of the jinchuriki to belong to the state and not to a single clan, it was only through the sympathies of fellow parents and her speech of how she would be best to train her son due to her previous status that she maintained custody of her child.

However, the damage was done. With the knowledge that Kushina had failed in her duties as a jinchuriki, no matter the circumstances, the leadership had someone to blame, and began to subtly discourage business interactions with the Uzumaki district. Kushina with little choice was forced to spread her business outside of Konoha, even selling parts of the district to support this transition. Still with the blame laid on her shoulders she found herself forced into conducting trade with nearby lands, particularly the countries of Hot Springs and Frost, allies of the Land of Lightning, a controversial venture for a high ranking member of a ninja village.

Sarutobi would respond to these problems by granting Kushina his support in her business ventures, rewarding her for her loyalty at the Hokage election. Kushina would also get her ANBU, Sarutobi declaring that the idea of a biju bomb was not unknown and he would not have the Kyubi released because someone damaged little Naruto's seal. He even put down the thoughts of using Naruto as a biju bomb to destroy one of the hidden villages of their rivals in order to direct the attention of the world elsewhere. Defeating these thoughts by referencing Kumo's jinchuriki, and how they can call on the power of their beast whenever they want, saying how such a weapon would leave Konoha uncontested. Sarutobi's words, while not appreciated by Kushina would protect her son; the ANBU would make sure no threat touched him, whether foreign or domestic.

Sadly, with the citizenry unable to lash out at the baby and unwilling to fight Kushina, they would lash out at the Uzumaki's place of worship and ransack the Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple, destroying the place of worship and leaving it in ruins. This action would go unpunished and the mob would be content, while Kushina would be furious she would create a hidden altar in her home for the God of Death and continue her worship in private, her son in a crib by her side when she prayed.

Similarly it was not just the Uzumaki clan that was affected by these revelations. With rumors caused by Madara's supposed ability to control the Kyubi and the absence of the clan head's family during the attack taking on a life of their own in the streets, the Uchiha found themselves being looked at with suspicion. Fugaku could not dispute these rumors for the embarrassment of admitting that he and his wife were passed out from exhaustion from certain activities while their son, Itachi, was out watching their other son, Sasuke. The admission alone would make a mockery of the Uchiha clan and had no guarantee of stopping the rumors. Fugaku would rationalize that admitting the truth would solve nothing, with a whole clan of suspects, and the commonness of clone jutsu, the people would remain suspicious. After all, Fugaku's greatest sin is his pride and he cannot imagine a world without it.

Sadly this was just the beginning of the Uchiha's troubles. With their members enforcing the curfew and establishing order, the mob had people to direct their anger upon. They did not appreciate the idea that the ones that might have caused the attack were bossing them around nor did they like the curfew in general. Still the Uchiha would do their duty, content in the knowledge that the leadership of Konoha would continue to support them. That those who were their leaders would never believe baseless rumors and that just as the suspicions cast upon them when Madara went rogue, they would pass.

Perhaps the future would have been different if Kushina had never been revealed to the council as the previous jinchuriki. The revelation of Kushina's status would be crushing as would the identity of the new jinchuriki. All of a sudden it was known that the Uchiha had access to the previous jinchuriki, had knowledge of when she would be vulnerable. Then there was Naruto to consider, after the Kyubi attack, Kushina had maintained the clan alliance between the Uzumaki and the Uchiha forged by her friendship with Mikoto. The council had to wonder, if the Uchiha were really behind the Kyubi attack then what was to stop them from using the new jinchuriki to try again, to use a much more vulnerable jinchuriki.

The distrust breed from these revelations would cause the Uchiha to be isolated and their influence marginalized. The alliance born from an academy friendship would be strained and would only hold due to Mikoto's insistence, their lack of allies on the council, and the concession of Kushina to secure their compound with Uzumaki seals. The alliance would survive but the added security would be noticed, Shimura, Danzo would begin to watch the clan, believing the Uchiha had something to hide.

Outside of Konoha the world watched and waited and soon someone would take advantage. The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Raikage of the village of Kumo would strike. The Daimyo would order the Raikage to test the Land of Fire's defenses and weaken them, to prepare the land for invasion from his samurai armies. Thus began a silent war between Lightning and Fire.

Konoha responded quickly to the threat, appointing Shikaku once more as an advisor to the Hokage, and reinstating Danzo as leader of the publicly disavowed group, root, the black ops of Konoha. Messages would be sent throughout the country as every shinobi garrison was put on alert and the ANBU left Konoha engaging with their Kumo equivalent, BOLT, along the border of the Land of Fire. As tensions rose, samurai were mobilized by their commanders and allies were contacted; the Elemental Nations held its breath. If Lightning and Fire were to go to war, then the Fourth World War would begin.

Then a miracle happened, a major shinobi engagement took place near the border of Fire country, with heavy casualties on both sides, resulting in the death of the BOLT commander and the death of Choshi Akimichi, one of Konoha's councilors. The aftermath of this conflict would result in the Land of Lightning sending a diplomatic party to Fire country. The world would take a collective sigh of relief as talks for peace began.

During these talks, the diplomatic party from Lightning would eventually find itself in Konoha. Once in Konoha, treachery would take place. The shinobi representative from Kumo would kidnap the daughter of Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga. He would then be intercepted by the girl's father and killed.

Lightning would deny the entire incident claiming an unprovoked attack even having their current Raikage produce a copy of his ninja's orders. They demanded restitution for the loss of Kumo's representative in the form of his killer. The Land of Fire disagreed declaring the Land of Lightning dishonorable and Konoha citing that Kumo's representative was caught in the act of kidnapping one Hinata Hyuga. However, with Konoha's evidence deceased and the lies provided by Kumo, the Elemental Nations began to apply pressure for a quick solution to their dispute.

Under pressure from the other nations to find a quick solution and a lack of desire for another war not even five years after the Third World War had come to an end. It was decided that a treaty would be created under the observation of the Land of Iron and that Konoha would give up Hiashi Hyuga to Kumo.

The Land of Lightning would be greatly affected by this deal. While Kumo received what they wanted in the finished treaty, they would suffer a heavy price, which would in the end amount to nothing as Hiashi Hyuga's twin brother, Hizashi Hyuga, would take his place; the caged bird seal on his head denying Kumo the byakugan even after his last breath. Kumo shinobi would be banned from foreign hidden villages, and would always be watched when on foreign soil, their shinobi now synonymous with the word untrustworthy. The Lightning Daimyo would have his control over his forces put into question and would suffer from an unfavorable treaty, enforced by the other Daimyo. The loss of political power and trust would cause him to adopt an isolationist policy and become more militaristic, while censoring the power of the Raikage.

Konoha would also suffer consequences from this agreement. They would gain the nickname tree huggers from certain factions in rival militaries and be viewed as pushovers; a view that would cause nukenin to interfere in their missions more often and for foreign shinobi to look down on them. This view would remain prevalent for many years despite efforts to correct it.

Perhaps the one least affected by this treaty was the Fire Daimyo. He was able to paint himself as the skilled diplomat, establishing peace for his country and forging a favorable treaty, all with the sacrifice of one life. He would even take another wife, Lady Shijimi, the sister of the current Lightning Daimyo in exchange for the sacrificed Hyuga's life, giving himself a way to install his own ruler in Lightning country if something should happen to the Daimyo's family and if she were to produce a son. Yes, perhaps the greatest sin of the Fire Daimyo, Koshiro Nobunaga, is greed, but he is quite good at it.

As for Kushina, she now found herself estranged from the Hyuga as well as the Akimichi as her trade with the allies of the Land of Lightning, the Lands of Hot Springs and Frost were well known. With the near war between her home and Lightning, those who conducted trade with their allies are looked upon with suspicion.

This suspicion would bring up once forgotten concerns. The people would whisper of the worshippers of death, of how they killed for fun and for pleasure. They would speak of her being foreigner and not one of them, as they did in her youth. Then they would consider her connection to the Uchiha, the 'instigators' of the Kyubi attack and of her connection to the new jinchuriki. They would begin to feel fear, wondering if she would unleash the Kyubi to sacrifice them to her dark god.

Kushina would see these changes but she could not run. Naruto needed her and as long as he was a jinchuriki he would be hunted. So she began to make arrangements, moving her businesses once more, she began to traffic her products to a more disreputable sort. The kind with connections, the kind that can make people disappear, and began to entrench herself into their world. She would be ready, in three years she will be ready to disappear with her son, and to a place they can escape the fear.

As Kushina grabbed her now three year old son and she began to lead him in a prayer to the Shinigami for safety and guidance at their small hidden altar. The Uchiha began to act. With the kidnapping of the Hyuga heiress and their connection to Kushina, people began to ask questions. Wondering why the clan hadn't kept watch over the treacherous people of Kumo, and from these questions wild accusations began to form. One such accusation was that they were in on it and were going to use the Uzumaki trade routes to smuggle the Kumo scum back to their village with the heiress safely in hand. The Uchiha had heard these rumors, said by drunken men, and saw how their supposed connection to the Kyubi attack had poisoned the minds of the citizenry. It was perhaps this outlandish theory that put them over the edge.

To the Uchiha clan it didn't matter if one bitter drunk needed someone to blame, they were tired of the state of things. They had watched as the village they were loyal to, turned their backs on them. They watched as their power withered and died until they had the influence of a minor clan at best. They watched as the rabble insulted their honor and called them traitors, accusing them of the Kyubi attack. They also watched as their last ally, Kushina, the only one to stick by them was persecuted. The Uchiha clan was done with it; they had decided that if they would not get the respect they deserved, then they will take it. It was on this day, in the aftermath of the treaty that the Uchiha clan began to plan their coup.

Meanwhile in the Shimura compound, Danzo watched and waited. He gave no credit to the rumors, finding them ridiculous at best, but there were coincidences, and he did not trust either the Uzumaki or the Uchiha. The minute either stepped out of line he would have his root bring them to heel but for now he would wait. He knew his vice, paranoia, but in the world he lived in, it had always served him well.

So it was that while the Elemental Nations avoided war, Konoha began to tick. A race against time had begun between Kushina, the Uchiha clan, and Danzo. Would Kushina be able to escape from Konoha with her son, or would the Uchiha clan launch their coup before Konoha can prepare, or would Danzo catch them in the act and have them executed as traitors? Only time could tell.

**Before anyone says anything, I know I said that Naruto would start taking his role as the main character by this chapter, but the setting had to be set. Now the first chapter we meet Naruto in is going to be during this race against time between Kushina, the Uchiha clan, and Danzo.**

**As for the story I hope you are enjoying it, it seems so with 30 favorites and 49 followers on its second day, so a shout out to all of you for your support. Once again please review.**

**Also after you have met Naruto I will most likely be having a poll on what to make his summon. Please note that any summon will be in line with the Shinigami theme and will not be overly powerful, but more of a strategic summon.**

**Finally for those who may be concerned about the persecution references taking place in this story, remember that even today people are hated because of their religion. In my story the shinobi almost entirely worships the Sage of Six Paths, placing the Uzumaki in the minority. Also remember that the common belief is that the Shinigami is a dark god, thus causing tension between the two groups.**


	4. Chapter 4: Naruto

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**So I said that I would take a small break in my writing, but have found that my muse is powerful, so powerful it has delayed the flight that I am waiting for. I had no choice but to give in.**

**Also please remember Naruto is five, while he will be intelligent, he is still a child at this moment.**

Chapter 4: Naruto

A crow flew through the air over the village of Konoha, its cry echoing through the morning, as people went about their day. It has been five years since the Kyubi attack and Konoha no longer bore its scar. It had been rebuilt and life had seemingly returned to normal.

It is inside of one of these homes that a lesson is taking place, a lesson between a red headed woman and a red haired child, Kushina and Naruto Uzumaki. The both of them are wearing white robes with red lining; similar to what one would expect a monk to wear.

The room is a largely empty room with a wooden floor and one entrance. At the rear of the room is a hidden seal concealed by the swirling waves that decorate the nearly bare walls save for one lone clock. In this seal is an altar to the Shinigami. In the center of the room, the two Uzumakis sit upon mats, their legs crossed. In the two corners by the entrance, there were practice weapons, and sealing supplies, with a small table perched against the wall. This is the Uzumakis' secret place of worship, disguised as a meditation/training room.

"Alright, Naruto-chan, name one of the tenants of our religion." Kushina says with an encouraging smile.

"All are equal in life as we are in death, for…we are all judged in death." Naruto states with a smile, stumbling for a second before finding the answer.

"Very good, now do you know what this means?" Kushina asks.

"Be a good person?"

Laughing, Kushina shakes her head. "Yes that's one way to put it. However, you missed the end, 'and all shall be judged by their deeds and goals, for in death all is laid bare.' It is perhaps the most important tenant of our religion. Good choice."

"Kaa-san, why are you a ninja then? Isn't killing wrong? Isn't it murder? The Uchiha arrest murderers." Naruto says his face scrunching up as his young mind makes connections.

"Oh, you are so adorable." Kushina lunges and grabs her son into a hug, settling him onto her lap.

"Kaaaa-ssaan! I am serious; when I was visiting Mikoto-basan we visited Fugaku-dono at his work. People were talking about how murderers were bad."

"Yes, killing without reason is wrong, however we are judged by our deeds and our goals. I am a kunoichi because I love you and I want you protected, and I kill to protect my family and our lives." Kushina explains.

"But what if they're innoc..inn…"

"Innocent?" Kushina prompts.

"Yeah, innocent. What if they have a family?" Naruto asks.

Placing her head on top of his she speaks, "Then you must value your own life. What if I hesitated and didn't come back?"

"No. You can't die, you're invincible." Naruto shouts, his young mind unable to imagine a life without his mother.

"_Oh, if only that were true."_ Kushina thought before a teasing smile came to her face. "I see you know the word invincible but not innocent. Perhaps because you aren't so innocent yourself, I've seen you manipulating others."

"Kaa-san, I am innocent…Kaa-san what does manipulation mean?" Naruto asks.

"Tricking people into doing what you want. Like when you pout at Mikoto-chan to get a piece of candy, or like when you tried to make me breakfast to get out of trouble. You even tricked foreigners into shopping at our stores by putting a cute look on your store and telling stories of the other stores. I am so proud of you." Kushina says squeezing him into her chest.

"Kaaaa-ssaan." Naruto whines.

Releasing him from her hold she takes him out of her lap. "Naruto-chan, I want you to pay attention. Those that worship the Shinigami recognize the protection of one's family to be one of the most noble of deeds. It also views protecting one's life and the violent pursuit of justice to be acceptable as well."

"Yes, kaa-san."

"Good. Just remember, when you take a life, do it for the right reasons. Never put yourself in danger because you hesitated. Remember if for some reason an innocent person, a good person, should die by your hands that they will be judged by the Shinigami, and if they are truly a good person then they shall see paradise. Life is a test and death is your reward." Kushina says keeping her eyes locked on her son's, making sure she has his attention.

"I get it, kaa-san. If a good person dies then they go to paradise, if a bad person dies they go to the Void." Naruto states.

Kushina nods before looking at the clock on the wall. "Now, let us review what I have taught you about chakra and our techniques. What is chakra?"

"The Konoha Academy defines Chakra as a mix of physical and spiritual energies, while the Uzumaki define chakra as a mix of physical and mental energies."

"Good. What are the basic uses of chakra?"

"Chakra can be used for shinobi techniques, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and fuinjutsu." Naruto answers confidently.

"You forgot one. Taijutsu can and is commonly enhanced by chakra, with the basics of doing so being quite simple, while the advanced aspects can take many years of training and medical knowledge. Also, outside of the Uzumaki, fuinjutsu is deemed as a complicated shinobi art and is not treated as one of the shinobi basics." Kushina corrects.

"What? Why?" Naruto questions.

"It's because unlike other clans the Uzumaki were not a shinobi clan, we were priests that eventually received the Shinigami's blessing. In our temples we would often create charms to ward off evil, but when the Shinigami gave us his blessing we learned to use spiritual energy, and created the first seals. The fuinjutsu commonly used by shinobi today was created based off our own, due to the similarity between spiritual and mental energies. It is also inferior to our own techniques. Can you tell me why?" Kushina explains before testing Naruto's knowledge.

"The fuinjutsu used by shinobi is inferior because of its complexity and for its lack of diversity. Shinobi fuinjutsu relies on each seal crafter to work the seal to their specific chakras, making the seal geared towards their chakra's affinities, and the balance of spiritual and physical energies in their chakra…Oh, their chakra must also be released through the seal in the correct pattern or it will not work. Also almost all shinobi seals require at least one hand sign. I got them all, right." Naruto states a little worried. Fuinjutsu was a major part of his clan's history and he didn't want to get it wrong.

"You got most of them. The others are that generic seals, seals that any ninja can use are in general weaker than original seals and require a lot of research before they can be created. Generic seals are also hindered by the fact that seal crafters guard their secrets from others and the fact those that can be called seal masters would rather commit suicide than be forced to share their secrets. The final reason is that the kages and samurai commanders would rather the more powerful seals not become public knowledge and instead encourage apprenticeships so that they can monitor the number of seal crafters." Kushina says looking at her son's face.

"So basically seal crafters are secretive and people are scared of what seals can do?" Naruto asks, simplifying it to a level his young mind can understand.

"Yes. Now tell me about Uzumaki seals." Kushina continues with her review.

"Our clan's seals are highly potent and come in various forms. This is because our clan was the first to create seals and one of the last to study the other chakra arts. It is helped by the fact that Uzumaki seals just require the use of spiritual energy to activate. Uzumaki seals are also hard to detect by those not sensitive to spiritual energy, only being detectable to sensors and those with bloodlines similar to the Hyuga, due to the similarity between mental energy and spiritual energy. You said it was like a hazy area or being hung over, something that will confuse them and could be overlooked…Kaa-san what's hung over mean?" Naruto explains drawing himself up with pride, before his face scrunched up into confusion.

Laughing nervously Kushina answered. "It means that kaa-san was very foolish one night and is not something you should experience. It's an adult thing. Now please continue."

"Hai. The greatest strength of Uzumaki seals are that they are simple to activate, not requiring the energy used to activate them to travel through a pattern in the seal itself. Also some Uzumaki seals do not require hand signs to activate, just that you touch them long enough to pour in the right amount of energy. Sadly there are zero combat seals that do not require hand signs." Naruto explains with a slight whine at the end, disappointed in the lack of combat seal that didn't need hand signs.

Kushina laughs as she remembers saying something similar in her youth, picturing what must be going on in his head. "Yes, it is rather disappointing. Now for your last question, what makes a great ninja?"

"A great ninja is a skilled ninja." Naruto answers.

"Explain."

"A skilled ninja is one who is smart enough to use their power wisely. A skilled ninja is a prepared ninja, confident in their abilities." Naruto responds.

"Why doesn't power make you a great ninja?"

"Power does not win battles. If your strength is found lacking you will lose, if your enemy can dodge you will lose, you will also tire faster from using wasteful energy. You do not need a ball of fire when a kunai would do the task just as well."

"Good. What about a smart ninja, why is this not the key to being great?" Kushina says with a smile on her face.

"A smart ninja reads and studies, they seek to trap their opponents and outwit them. If they are caught in the open they are vulnerable and easily killed."

"A fast ninja?"

"A fast ninja is better with his path clear and nowhere to stumble, put obstacles in his way and he will fall."

"And what of stubbornness or as some would call it, will power; does this make a strong ninja?"

"That is a ninja that does not understand defeat; they will never give up and can be intimidating. They are also a dead ninja; a great ninja knows when to retreat and when to fight."

"Good. Now sochi-kun go get changed and packed, kaa-san needs to go on a mission and you are going to Mikoto-chan's house. She has agreed to watch over you for me while I am gone."

"Hai!" Naruto exclaims before rushing out of the room.

Kushina while an overprotective mother at the worst of times was okay with Mikoto Uchiha watching her son, as she had been her best friend since the academy. This was also helped by how safe the location was. The Uchiha were a large clan with over two hundred active shinobi in their compound, she could agree that the area was quite safe for her son.

This is also because Kushina added security seals to the compound, Uzumaki security seals, back when their alliance had been strained before the Kumo conflict. Now their compound had three types of Uzumaki seals protecting their compound. The first was an Uzumaki intent seal. The intent seal felt the soul of any who tried to enter the compound and would bar those feeling large amounts of negative emotions or killer intent. In its current state it maintains a transparent field of chakra around the compound, including under, that will instantly repel those with negative intentions. It was flawed as clan members could still come and go but the likelihood of someone killing their own family was small. It also needed a blood sample from all living Uchiha so that the seal would recognize them. The intent seal that she had used included a chakra conversion seal in it so that the Uchiha clan's chakra could power it, if she was not around. It should be left unsaid that Kushina left a back door in the seal so that she could get into the compound should anything happen to her son.

The next seal is simply a life force seal. It is an Uzumaki seal powered by the Uchiha clan itself. It is a seal that was placed in the center of the compound with corresponding seals interwoven into the intent seals that surrounded the Uchiha's home. As with the intent seals, all currently living Uchiha had to donate a drop of blood so that they could be recognized by the seal. What this seal does is alert the clan, should one of their members die inside of the compound. While it is faulty in that it will alert even if one died of old age, the drawbacks are outweighed by its advantages. There are even three locations that have receiver versions of this seal and can sound the alarm if their clan should come under attack. These three locations are the clan head's house, and two building on the opposite sides of the compound.

The last seal is an Uzumaki tamper redundancy seal. This seal does exactly as its name says, it checks for tampering. The seal is a classic of the Uzumaki, detecting when others attempt to bypass, destroy, have destroyed, or read their seals, it will shoot a flare into the sky upon noticing the intrusion. If it is being read, then it will destroy the seal if it does not receive the proper hand sign and a dose of spiritual energy so as to avoid the seal's secrets from falling into another's hands. The redundancy lies in the second tamper seal connected to the first; making it so someone would have to disable both seals to avoid detection. It is one of the greatest masterpieces of the Uzumaki clan and one they agreed never to make a chakra version of. All Uzumaki tamper redundancy seals are run solely off of spiritual energy.

The final layer in this seemingly unstoppable security is a shelter built under the compound. While Kushina only knew of the underground structure's existence and not its purpose, she had made sure to put the barrier for the Uzumaki intent seal under the structure as was requested of her. This security along with their number of active ninjas would make the Uchiha compound one of the most secure places in all of Konoha.

Feeling content in the knowledge, Kushina went to her room and changed her clothes into the standard jonin outfit, pausing just a moment to stare at her stomach, remembering what used to be sealed there. With a shake of her head she filled her kunai pouch, carefully counting what she put inside. Then she grabs a pre-packed backpack and puts it on, preferring not to seal it at this time. Finally, she grabs a scroll from one of her drawers and attaches it to a string along her waist. Tying her hair into a ponytail she takes a moment to go over her mission.

"_Alright I managed to get a mission to Tea Country. My mission is to bring a scroll to a minor noble in Tea Country, quick and easy, just why I requested it. Not only will I get some easy money but I have business in the country and it's on the way. Now I have ten kunai, twenty shuriken, and two explosive notes. If I am successful then soon Naruto and I will be safe; just one more year."_

Finished with inspecting herself she walks out of her bedroom to meet up with Naruto in the hall, a small bag by his side.

"Did you pack a toothbrush?" She asks.

"Yes kaa-san."

"Clothes?"

"Yes kaa-san."

"Good, now remember no sweets passed eight o'clock and in bed by nine. I will be telling this to Mikoto-chan, so no funny business." She says attaching a mock glare at the end.

"Yes...kaa-sama." Naruto responds, switching to the sama suffix upon seeing Kushina's glare.

With a nod and a wide smile for messing with her son Kushina opened the door and they stepped out, quickly moving to the Uchiha compound, where Mikoto was waiting for them.

"Thank you for doing this for me Mikoto-chan." Kushina says upon seeing her.

"No problem. Naruto-kun is practically a member of the family." Mikoto replies.

"Okay I have already told Naruto-chan this but could you make sure that he doesn't eat any sweets passed eight and is in bed by nine. If he has sweets too late he might not sleep well and…" Kushina says beginning to babble as she goes through her greatest battle before a mission, leaving Naruto with a sitter.

"Kushina, this is not the first time I've watched him for you. Naruto-kun will be fine, so relax." Mikoto interrupts, knowing full well how Kushina could get if she wasn't interrupted when it came to her son. She was the same with Itachi when he was little, but she had mellowed after the birth of her second child.

"Naruto-chan wish me good luck on my mission." Kushina prompts.

"Good luck, Kaa-san."

However rather than leave Kushina remains standing there and looks at him expectantly. "Now you know that is not how you say good bye to me."

"But kaa-san it's embarrassing and everyone's watching." Naruto whines while Mikoto begins to giggle good naturedly at the scene.

"Oh, I see, my sochi does not love me, oh woes is me. Where could I have gone wrong as a mother?" Kushina says dramatically with a hand over her face as if she were about to faint.

"Kaa-san. You're a great mother don't cry."

He rushes over, tackling her into a hug, missing his mother's smile of victory. Before crying out when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Kaaaa-ssaan!" His cry was accompanied by the laughter of Mikoto and his mother.

"Alright I am off to the Hokage's office and then I will be leaving to Tea country, I should be back in a few days, be good." With that Naruto's mother walked off.

"Come on Naruto-kun let's get you settled in." Mikoto offers as she guides him into the Uchiha compound.

Wiping the sad look off his face at seeing his mother go he turned to Mikoto and began to follow. "Hai…Mikoto-basan how's Itachi-san, is he okay? I heard about Shisui-san."

"He said he will be out today but I am sure that he will appreciate your concern. Now come on, if you get settled in quickly I'll give you a couple cookies." Mikoto responds.

"Let's go." Naruto exclaimed once he heard cookies, attempting to drag Mikoto to her home. All the while Mikoto laughed, enjoying the exuberance of his youth.

**Well my plane is finally getting in and I managed another chapter, so yeah timing and all fear the almighty muse.**

**Alright the main character has finally been introduced, it only took three chapters. Right now Naruto is a kid so he likes sweets, he will still like ramen, it wouldn't be Naruto without him liking ramen, but as a kid he has a slight sweet tooth. He might also be slightly gullible when it comes to his mom, but what five year old isn't. I hope you enjoyed your first introduction to his character. There were also some hints in this chapter about what is future personality will be like.**

**Also next chapter will have some bloodshed in it as Naruto fans should connect what was said at the end with a certain canon event.**

**Also I will be posting a poll on what Naruto's summon should be so look at it and vote. The next chapter area will have information on the available summons and what they can do so check it out.**

**Finally, I am debating on what to do with Sasuke. Originally I wasn't planning such a close relationship between the Uzumaki clan and the Uchiha clan. Now I have a very different Uchiha Massacre about to take place (whether it is a massacre or not, I will keep to myself) and am unsure what to do with him. Feel free to share your thoughts, even the idea of making him a girl.**

**As always please review, and also a shout out to all my readers out there, it's only the third day and there have already been over 1,200 of you. This will be the last time I write for a few days unless my muse proves powerful enough to mess with air traffic control again.**


	5. Chapter 5: Incidents

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**Just a quick note before the story begins. This chapter is replacing the author's note for the summon ideas in my story. If you want to see a description of the available summons you can find it on my profile.**

Chapter 5: Incidents

It has been two days since Kushina left her son at the Uchiha compound and she had already completed her mission. Now she stood inside of a small rundown looking art store in a town near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Tea. She is currently wearing a civilian outfit with the scroll she took from her home by her side. Her eyes are scanning the art on the wall as she approached the counter, but if you looked carefully you could see that she always kept the man behind it in sight.

The art on display at the is store is hideous, poor imitations of the great works and the store would usually be lucky to see a customer, much less be one she would enter. However the art is not what this store truly sold, it was just a cover. No, what made this store valuable is the man behind the counter, one Suru, Gizo. Gizo is a man almost completely average in appearance, perhaps slightly below, with black hair, and a thin frame. He is not particularly muscular and lacks any measureable amount of chakra. This unassuming man in his forties would usually be overlooked if not for one thing. Gizo Suru is a forger of extreme skill. The store is a front for his business and the art on display a ruse to throw off the authorities. His skill in forgery is commonly used for the creation of government documents and the occasional piece of art. The documents he forges can even be buried into government records if one had the connections.

This man is the one who forged the documents for her family's new identity, documents that will become official in just one year's time. Gizo had forged for her an entire history of her supposed life in Tea, from her birth records to her business dealings. It is he who she had business with.

"Ahh. Scarlet-san, welcome, welcome, it is good to see you once more. Are you here for the art or something a little more discreet? Maybe you will finally grace me with your true name; after all we are business partners." Gizo speaks upon noticing her entrance.

"I would rather keep this discreet, if you don't mind." Kushina answers.

"One moment." Gizo gets out from behind the old counter and goes to the front of the store, flipping the open sign to closed and lowering the blinds. When he returned, he once more addressed Kushina. "So Scarlet-san, what business do you have for me today. Or is this about your name?"

"No, this is for business. Besides you know my name is Scarlet, Aki, you were the one who put it on my birth certificate." Kushina says with a good natured laugh.

Laughing he replies. "Now we both know that isn't true but for now business is good." His words showing his comfort with someone he had maintained a business relationship with for slightly over two years.

"I need information." Kushina states simply.

"You know that is not what I traffic in Scarlet-san. I am not sure how I can help you." He says simply.

"Oh, but I am sure you can. You see I need information on one of your customers." Kushina quickly responds her voice soft and playful.

"You know my rules. I cannot talk about my other customers." He says his face becoming hard and losing its playful tone.

"I don't care what you did for him, I just need a confirmation. Is it true that you did business with Jiraiya?" She asks, her voice developing a dangerous edge.

"I do not know who that is? Perhaps you should leave. We would not want to sour our friendship with such questions." Gizo answers reaching for a knife under the counter, uncomfortable with how the conversation is turning.

"You sure you don't know him? He's one of the sannin, really tall, has white hair, and weird marks running down his eyes. If that doesn't help, he also writes the icha icha books that seem so popular nowadays." Kushina says her tone now completely predatory.

"No, now I really think you should leave." Gizo states a nervous chill going down his spine, his hand tightening around his knife.

"You absolutely sure you don't know him? He didn't happen to stop by a month ago and make a deal with you? Are you absolutely sure?" Kushina says as she begins to touch the scroll by her side.

"Leave now. Our business is over. I will not hurt you in light of our past business together." Gizo demands drawing his knife and pointing it at her. Secure in the knowledge that he could defeat what he thought was a civilian woman.

"No, I don't think I will. You see, I don't like liars, and I think you have been telling lies. You really shouldn't tell lies." Kushina says as she dashes forward, slapping his knife out of his hand and dragging Gizo over the countertop, before kicking the scared man to the ground.

"It's too bad Gizo-san, I guess you will never know my name." Kushina states, her tone hard as she unrolls the scroll by her side before releasing the content within. Grabbing the item in her hand she reveals it to be a sword.

"You can't do this. People will know. The police will investigate." Gizo whimpers, his voice desperate.

"Don't worry, I won't get caught." Kushina says as she approaches his downed form, sword in hand.

Gizo truly looks at the blade that is to end his life for the first time; it's an old and battered thing that only a thug would use. He knew that if an investigation started the case would remain unsolved, just attributed to some punk kid with a sword and not the well kept woman in front of him.

"Please, I have a family." He says in a last attempt to save his life.

The sword swung, slashing through his belly. Gizo shouts in pain as the life begins to leave his body and his eyes grow heavy.

"And I am protecting mine." Kushina states resolutely. _"Sorry Gizo, but I couldn't let you live. When Naruto and I disappear, Jiraiya will come looking for us and with his money and resources you would talk the moment he asked about a red headed woman and her child."_

As Gizo drew his last breath, Kushina began to finish her plan. She opened the register and took the money from inside and left. Gizo had been a forger for years and had a reputation for destroying the evidence of his dealings; it was why he had been trusted. It had only been Gizo's relationship with Jiraiya that had caused Kushina to kill him.

Meanwhile in one of Konoha's wooded training grounds, Itachi stands in his ANBU uniform, his tanto on his back, and two kunai holsters strapped to his sides. Currently Itachi is staring at the ANBU mask in his hands, seemingly lost in thought.

"Having doubts?" A voice says from behind the young ANBU.

"No. Will you honor our deal?" Itachi asks, turning to face the voice.

As he turns it reveals a man dressed in black, a swirling orange mask on his face. "I will honor our deal. Konoha will be left alone."

"Good. Madara-sama, if the attack is to work we will need to neutralize the three seal relays in the Uchiha compound. I can take down two of them, my own home and the eastern relay, but I will need you to take out the western relay. Can you do it?" Itachi asks.

"Remember who you are talking to. I have yet to encounter a seal that the power of my eyes could not overcome." The orange masked man rebukes.

"Then the attack will begin at 2200. During the attack my brother is not to be harmed." Itachi clarifies.

"Of course." The masked man says, an amused smile hidden behind his mask.

* * *

(2200)

Inside the home of the Uchiha clan head; Fugaku watched as his tired wife entered the bedroom. "Are the children asleep?"

"Finally, Sasuke-chan and Naruto-kun have exhausted themselves are finally asleep." Mikoto says with a tired sigh and a small smile on her face.

"Well Kushina-san did say not to give Naruto-kun candy passed eight, and then you had to give some to Sasuke-kun as well. You know Kushina-san is going to tell you 'I told you so'" Fugaku teased.

Mikoto smiled at Fugaku's relaxed demeanor, something that he only showed in the privacy of his home and around her and while she wished he would show it more to their children, it still made her love him all the more. "Not funny. We are not telling…"

Mikoto's words would be silenced when Fugaku tackled her to the floor just before his adjoining office to their bedroom exploded. A sound that was echoed from the east, while a flare shot in the west. The compound had fallen under attack. "Get the children and head to the bunker." Fugaku shouts, ignoring the heat to his back.

* * *

On top of the smoking wreckage of the building that housed the eastern seal relay, Itachi stood clad in his ANBU uniform, mask on his face, his hands locked together in a seal. He had just set off the explosive tags he had hidden in his father's office and just now around the eastern relay. He would have placed more but he could not risk the chance of discovery.

However, things were not going to plan. The plan had been for Madara to destroy the western relay and leave the clan blind as to what was going on. They would know they were being attacked but they wouldn't know who was attacking and where they were being attacked from. Madara and Itachi would then use the confusion to pick off the Uchiha one by one. Now the Uchiha would know where they were being attacked, the moment one of his clansmen died, they could organize a counterattack.

For now Itachi would head towards the Naka Shrine the Uchiha's place of worship for the Sage of Six Paths, and the site of many of their secrets, including the bunker. With a mighty leap Itachi left the burning building and began his attack.

As Itachi drew his tanto to cut down a confused Uchiha as the man was leaving his home, Itachi's thoughts turned to Madara. _"I wonder what happened. Why did the flare go off?"_

* * *

Itachi's companion was currently staring at the ground in confusion. He could not understand why his kamui had not worked. He had no idea how a seal could stop him from getting into the compound. Curious he had searched for the seal and found it. It had been a curious thing, seeming to have little chakra in its build. So he had attempted to study it, only for another seal to activate and stop him from reading it, even shooting a flare into the air.

The masked man wasn't happy, he had failed to destroy the western relay and a seal had stopped him from using his kamui to enter the compound. Then when he found the seal another seal had stopped him from studying the first seal. _"Okay, I will work on the second seal first, and then I will study the second seal. The Uchiha clan can wait; a seal that can work against my kamui could cause trouble when I begin to collect the jinchuriki."_

Reaching out the masked man began to unravel the second seal. The man worked carefully, ignoring the screams coming from the compound as the seal began to unravel.

_"Careful, careful, there could be traps. Almost there."_

The seal had begun to unravel spreading across the ground. It seemed that the masked man would unlock its secrets before the seal began to glow, and the writing began to disperse into little flames. Quickly the man stepped back, wary of the flames, and not confident in whether his kamui would protect him so soon after its initial failure.

"I hate seals." He said simply as he watched the seals burn away and a second flare shoot into the air.

He watched as a barrier surrounding the Uchiha compound flashed into view before shattering, his tampering having managed to destroy the wall that separated him from the Uchiha clan.

_"This isn't good. That and two flares will be noticed and ANBU will be on their way. Itachi's mission wasn't exactly public knowledge. I can't afford to be found this early in the game."_

With that thought the masked man used his sensor ability to locate Itachi while idly taking note of several ANBU squads moving into the compound, before disappearing in his kamui. The masked man had to protect his investment.

* * *

Inside Sasuke's room two boys were awoken to the sounds of an explosion. Their eyes filled with fear as Mikoto burst into the room telling them that they had to go. She reached out her hands and grabbed both Naruto and Sasuke, rushing them through the house. By the entrance of the house, Fugaku would stand with a drawn sword in his hand and a stern expression on his face.

Naruto would watch as they moved towards the eastern side of the compound, towards the Naka Shrine, he would hear the screams of those he thought of as a second family, his mind filled with panic as he watched Uchiha children hurried down the street. All around him children were crying while those who were ninjas rushed by his tiny body, armed, if a little underdressed at times, heading towards the sounds of the screams.

Turning his head, Naruto would watch as a second flare shot into the air behind his extended family and as the air around the Uchiha clan glowed, forming a dome around the area, before shattering, chunks of energy falling from the sky, burning up in midair before reaching the ground.

As they turned the corner Naruto watched as a half dressed shinobi drew his kunai and stepped in front of a group of children, blocking a wave of shuriken, only for several to be disguised by an unnoticed genjutsu. The shuriken would slam into his throat and several of the children behind him.

A squad of dressed Uchiha would take his place, likely guards of the compound. "Fugaku-dono, get your family to safety. We shall hold off the enemy. Go now!" Shouts an Uchiha wearing a captain's uniform of the Konoha Military Police.

"Thank you." Fugaku says before turning to his family and Naruto. "Come we have to go."

* * *

The squad of Uchiha would stay behind as Fugaku led his wife and the children to safety. Content in the fact that if they should die, that they had saved their leader and the innocent.

"Be careful. They used a genjutsu to hide their weapons, be vigilant. Don't let your guard down." The Uchiha captain states as his sharingan scanned the area.

A single kunai would be launched towards the group and explode in a flash of light. Once the Uchiha were blinded Itachi dropped upon them, slicing through two members of the squad before their eyesight started to clear.

The captain would be the first to notice him; his vision still blurry, he would draw a kunai and engage Itachi in combat. "Shiteru-san go warn the others, it's the ANBU. The Hokage is attacking." The captain would shout out, not recognizing Itachi with his effected vision; he had ordered his squad mate, Shiteru Uchiha, to leave and warn the rest of the Uchiha clan.

"Hai." Shiteru Uchiha said before turning and running towards the nearest Uchiha squads to spread the word. _ "We may lose but we will make the Hokage pay for every life he takes" _He thought as he retreated.

_"I can't allow him to get away."_ Itachi thought as charged forward, intending to intercept the fleeing Uchiha. The traitorous Uchiha would abandon this idea as the captain of the Uchiha squad intercepted him.

Once the captain had reached Itachi he had swung his kunai only for the traitor to dodge, leaping backwards before the captain's kunai could slice through him.

"It's not going to be that easy." The captain stated pressing the attack. _"I can't let this ANBU create any distance. If he has been skilled enough to get this deep into the Uchiha compound on his own, who knows what ninjutsu he knows; I can't let him form any hand signs."_

Itachi responded to these attacks, blocking them, reading them, learning his attacker's pattern before preparing his counterattack. The captain, swinging his blade once more was unprepared for the parry that met him, knocking the arm that held his kunai to the side and leaving him open to the thrust of Itachi's tanto.

It is only thanks to his sharingan that the captain dodged the strike, his eyes predicting the attack, and allowing him to step to the side to dodge. With the attack dodged, the captain stepped forward getting close to the traitorous Uchiha and brought down his left arm, his weaponless arm, down and over Itachi's sword arm, trapping the arm to his side as he brought his kunai around once more.

_"I've got him. He can't form hand signs and he won't break my hold in time… wait, what!?" _The Uchiha captain thought as his kunai was less than a second from burying itself in Itachi's chest, only to be caught off guard when the ANBU he held turned his head to the Uchiha and met his eyes.

"_He's an Uchiha!" _This would be the last sane thought of the captain as he noticed his captive's eyes for the first time. The three tomoed eyes of the traitorous Uchiha began to morph, taking on a new design, racing against the approaching kunai.

"Tsukuyomi." Itachi whispers once his eyes finished their change, a little shuriken like design replacing their original three tomoes.

The captain was trapped, frozen in place, his kunai nearly touching the skin of Itachi's chest. With the captain frozen in place, his mind broken from the technique, Itachi extracted himself from his hold.

"You fought well." Itachi said before thrusting his blade into the now collapsed Uchiha's chest.

Taking a deep breath, Itachi considered his next action. He could go after Shiteru and stop him from informing the rest of his clansmen of his attack, but the man was already gone, his message probably spread. Or he could continue to head to the bunker and catch his parents before they get there, the children likely having slowed them down.

"_My parents have to die, without them the Uchiha clan will not have the leadership needed for the coup. If they survive then all of this has been for nothing." _Ignoring the strain in his eye and the depletion of his chakra, Itachi brought his hands together into the sign needed for the shunshin no jutsu.

Once Itachi had gathered the appropriate chakra, he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Itachi was heading straight to the Naka Shrine and his parents.

* * *

On the western side of the compound, three ANBU squads had entered the Uchiha compound and had begun to advance towards the center of the compound.

"Taicho, it's deserted. Where is everyone?"

"I don't know. Be on the look… Take cover!" The ANBU captain shouted.

From the rooftops Uchiha clan shinobi cast the katon: phoenix flower jutsu, spraying a rain of tiny balls upon the ANBU squads in the street. While others cast the doton: earth wall jutsu on the ends of the street trapping the ANBU in the streets below.

The ANBU screamed as the fire from the ambush rained down upon them, killing most of their number. While the Uchiha watched as the fire consumed the ANBU and spread to the surrounding buildings.

From these flames the captain that shouted the order emerged with two others behind them, leaping to the rooftops. In the captain's hand he held a flare, an ANBU issue flare. He would aim the flare into the sky and shoot it into the air, unleashing its content into the sky where it would explode into a shower of sparks, informing all shinobi squads that they were under attack.

"You won't get away with this." He shouts as he engages the closest Uchiha in combat, idly taking note of the clothing he wore, or rather the lack there of. The Uchiha is only wearing a pair of pajama pants and hastily put on, mismatched sandals.

The ANBU takes advantage of his exposed state, engaging him in close combat, confident in that his armor would protect him from the Uchiha's blows, while the unarmored Uchiha would quickly fall to his. It works, the unarmed Uchiha is defenseless, his strikes striking metal, bruising his own hands, while the ANBU quickly tears apart his unprotected body, before tossing the Uchiha to the flames below.

As the body falls into the flames, an Uchiha female shouts, "No. Inabi!"

Quickly forming hand signs she poured her chakra into a large katon: great fireball jutsu. From her mouth would come a large fireball that would crash into the building, engulfing the building and the ANBU captain in flames.

* * *

All across Konoha people would awaken as the alarm was sounded, telling the people that their village was under attack. ANBU, jonin, and chunin would rush to the spot where the flare had gone off. While other chunin and genin would attempt to calm the civilian populace.

In the Hokage Tower, one Sarutobi, Hiruzen would be disturbed from his late night at work. He would look to the Uchiha compound and see the flare; cursing under his breath; he would open his window and join the swarming shinobi.

* * *

In another section of the Uchiha compound we once more see Shiteru Uchiha. He had managed to inform several members of the Uchiha clan of the ANBU attack, who had in turn spread the message. Now he stands in command of small group of Uchiha shinobi near the eastern end of the compound.

"Shiteru-san, there is a large group of shinobi heading this way, perhaps thirty, no forty of them. What are your orders?" A female Uchiha questions, her sensor abilities picking up on the approaching enemies.

_"There are only eight of us and not all of us are jonin, some of us are chunin. Against those numbers we would be crushed, and the Hokage won't be sending weaklings. No we can expect our enemies to be ANBU or jonin. But we can't let them get by us. We are the last things standing between them and the Naka Shrine, we have to hold."_ Shiteru thought as examined the situation.

"Set fire to the buildings." Shiteru ordered.

"Sir?" One of the shinobi under his command questioned.

"We must neutralize their numbers. Buildings can be rebuilt, but the lives of the Uchiha clan cannot be untaken. Burn the buildings; force them to take this road." Shiteru spoke. _"I cannot retreat not after the captain. I don't care if it was an order or the right thing to do; I still left him to die. I will not allow these Sage-damned bastards to reach our children. We shall hold this road till our last breath."_

"Hai, Shiteru-san." The surrounding shinobi responded.

"Good. Now, how long until the enemy reaches this location?" He questions, pointing to the sensor kunoichi under his command.

Taking a moment to concentrate, she quickly locates them. "Not even three minutes."

"Keep tracking them and stay with me, I want to know exactly where they are. Now, of the five jonin here, excluding myself and her, how many of you know the katon: fire dragon jutsu?" Shiteru asks.

Two of the shinobi raise their hands. "Good then this is the plan. You two will move to the rear of the group, you are to gather your chakra and when I give the order you are to unleash the largest katon: fire dragon jutsu of your lives on our enemies. Everyone else except our sensor here will cast small fire jutsu on the buildings. Chunin be careful with your chakra, I can't have you exhausted before the battle. Now go." Shiteru orders.

Across the entire roadway buildings were set aflame as small scale jutsu like the phoenix fire jutsu and the great fireball jutsu were unleashed. Soon only the road was clear of the flames, the only safe path through the area.

"One minute!" The sensor shouts.

"Alright, hide quickly, if you must, use the smoke to hide your presence. Once the fire dragons are unleashed, use the confusion to your advantage, cut them down." Shiteru orders before turning to the sensor he had hidden near. "By the way I never got your name."

"Is now really the time?" The sensor replies.

"Can't think of a better time." Shiteru responds.

The sensor hesitates for only a second, "Setsuna."

Shiteru smiles before turning his attention to the road, already he can see the silhouettes of the approaching shinobi. He tenses and grabs his kunai, waiting for the right moment. The moment came quickly as the shinobi sprinted past his position heading towards the end of the road, where the two hidden jonin were waiting.

"Now!" Shiteru shouts.

From the end of the road two massive katon: fire dragon jutsus were unleashed, catching the encroaching shinobi off guard and incinerating half their number. From all around the surviving shinobi a barrage of kunai, shuriken rained down upon them as the hidden Uchiha endeavored to take advantage of the confusion.

"Kunai kage bunshin justu" Shiteru intoned launching the kunai from his hand and watching as multiple copies appeared in the air before crashing into the confused shinobi. He was glad he had accidently copied this jutsu when he was a genin serving under the current Hokage during the Second World War.

"Charge." Shiteru gives the final order, his sharingan flashing into his eyes as the men and women under his command rushed the survivors of their attack.

The battle wasn't long; the few survivors of their initial barrage were easily overwhelmed by the Uchiha forces. However, two of the Uchiha had perished; one jonin and one chunin.

"Shiteru-san, more hostiles incoming!" Setsuna warned.

"Quick, check the bodies for explosive tags. We will mine the road. I know some of you are tired, but we are fighting for our families, for children, we cannot falter. Make the forces of the Hokage pay for every life he has taken this day. For the Uchiha clan!" Shiteru shouts, lifting the spirits of the Uchiha once more.

* * *

All across the Uchiha compound battles were taking place and the death toll began to rise as more and more Uchiha, and Konoha shinobi began to die. It was not long till the entire compound began to burn, as ninjutsu ravaged the area and the fires spread unchecked. The Uchiha compound had become a battlefield.

* * *

At the Naka Shrine Fugaku had already guided the children inside of the bunker when he felt a shunshin incoming. Grabbing his wife he threw her into the bunker and slammed the door.

"What, Fugaku-kun, what are you doing?" Mikoto cried out.

"Live. You must live, not just for our children but for all of the children of our clan. Please, stay in there." Fugaku said as he turned his back on her, a couple of tears falling from his eyes.

"Fugaku-kun." Mumbled Mikoto as she pressed her tear stained face to the small window of the bunker.

Feeling the shunshin end he watched as Itachi appeared, his ANBU uniform stained with the blood of his clan.

"Hello tou-san." States Itachi, his voice slightly strained from the loss of chakra he had recently suffered from his actions.

"Itachi. I see that you followed the Hokage in this affair. You know I can't allow you in that bunker." Fugaku said, sadness seeping into his voice at his own son's betrayal.

"Your actions would have led to war; the clan had to be sacrificed. I will not apologize for my actions." Itachi says, a sliver of emotion leaking into his voice.

"I believe we are passed the point of apologies." Fugaku said as he went through the hand signs for the katon: great fireball jutsu and shooting it towards his son's feet.

Itachi dodged but the resulting smokescreen caused by the fire's contact with the ground allowed his father to slip into his guard, his sword swinging. With little time to dodge, Itachi attempted to block with the metal arm guards of his uniform. Succeeding but still suffering as the resounding impact hit with bruising force, and knocked his arm down, leaving him open for the quick slice across his chest, ruining the armor of his uniform.

_"That was close; if I wasn't wearing armor I would be dead. I can't afford another mistake." _Itachi thought as he brought his tanto to bear and his eyes shifted to the mangekyo sharingan.

"You are foolish son. You are tired and your chakra is low. You may be the better shinobi but in your condition, you can't beat me." With that Fugaku charged forward, his sharingan blazing.

However, before Fugaku could swing his sword, Itachi cast a quick genjutsu, altering his father's perception of where Itachi was standing, causing Fugaku's sword to swing to early and knocking the man off balance. Fugaku's eyes were already working to dispel the illusion but the damage was done. Itachi stepped forward and brought his tanto down, slicing his father from his left shoulder to his pelvis, and removing the hand holding his sword.

This is what made Itachi such a great shinobi and why he is considered such a powerful shinobi despite his young age; genjutsu. While Itachi is quite skilled in ninjutsu and taijutsu, even kenjutsu, it is his talent in genjutsu that allowed him to be great. Itachi knew that in a shinobi battle, long drawn out conflicts are the rarity and not the rule, that the first mistake is usually the only mistake. It's why he used genjutsu; it allowed him to determine when the mistake would be made. Even if his opponents had something that made genjutsu ineffective there would still be that second before the technique was dispelled that he could take advantage of. This is why genjutsu is Itachi's favorite and preferred shinobi art.

As Fugaku was cut down, inside of the bunker, Mikoto bit her tongue, holding in a scream and turned away. Her husband had been killed by her eldest son; she could not bear to watch anymore. She instead turned to the children in the bunker and started to give comfort where she could. They would be traumatized. Naruto and Sasuke had both seen other children cut down before their eyes, seen the twisted bodies of the dead, and the flames of war. She would give them the comfort where she could, just as she would take comfort from them.

Outside of the bunker, Itachi examined the door, looking for a weakness in its defenses, before a voice came from behind him. "Don't bother. I created that bunker during the early days of Konoha, in case this Senju controlled village should turn on the Uchiha clan. Even if you could break it open, the bunker holds the clan's summoning scroll to the cats; they could simply be reversed summoned to safety. Now come, the night is over." The masked man posing himself as Madara says, reaching his hand out to the traitorous Uchiha.

"Very well, but Madara-sama, where were you?" Itachi asks with a tired sigh. He could hear quite well that his mission had failed, as the sounds of war filled the air.

"I came across an interesting seal. Now come, the Hokage approaches." Madara says with an air of superiority.

Nodding Itachi accepted the masked man's hand and together they disappeared into the man's kamui.

* * *

With the Hokage's arrival the fighting quickly began to end as he sounded a general order for a ceasefire. With the order given, the Uchiha fell back to the Naka Shrine and waited until Sarutobi appeared once more, a force of jonin and ANBU at his back.

_"This is not how it was so supposed to happen. This is a nightmare."_ Sarutobi thought as he approached the bunker.

Standing in front of it was Mikoto Uchiha, who had come out of the bunker to represent her clan. Behind her the surviving Uchiha clan shinobi stood prepared to fight if the violence should continue.

"We need to talk." Sarutobi says plainly. His eyes locked onto the Uchiha matriarch's, staring into them without fear.

Ignoring the tingle in her eyes, Mikoto looks around the ruined district and the battle weary shinobi from both sides, before locking her eyes once more with the third Hokage. "Yes. I believe we do."

* * *

Meanwhile during the battles at the Uchiha compound, Kushina was on a road in Tea Country. Rather than camp out she had decided to follow the road to the next town with an inn not an hour away.

It is as she was walking that she heard a sizzling sound come from under her feet. Alarmed she leapt away as the ground exploded. Focusing on her sensor ability she discovered the ground had been mined with generic explosive tags and that they were being activated.

Unable to get out of the area in time as the ground started to erupt around her she activated her chakra chain ability and wrapped herself in her chains. It would protect from the heat and shrapnel of the explosion but not the concussive force. The force of the explosion would disorient her and she would begin to feel the development of bruises all over her body.

Reaching into her pouch she removed her two explosive tags and attached them to a kunai each before spinning her chains around to give her space. Catching one of the ninja near her chain cocoon by surprise and ripping their chest open.

As she emerged from her cocoon she observed the remaining four shinobi. _"Kiri hunter nin. What do they want with me? Shouldn't they be fighting a war or something?"_

Already she can feel as other squads pinged on her sensor. There were another four five-man squads, one in each direction. They had trapped her. _"Okay, can't stay and fight. That's suicide. I have to escape."_

Priming her two explosive tags she launched them at the squad in front of her, activating their tags before they could reach the already in motion targets, separating them from each other and causing a smoke screen.

Using her sensor she determined the right side to be the safer path and moved through the smoke, a kunai already in her hand, and gets behind the assailant that went right before covering the ninja's mouth and dragging her kunai across his throat.

Ignoring the blood spray she continued on, moving towards the nearby trees. She was familiar with trees, she trained in Konoha; she would have an advantage there. She could use them to escape.

Sadly her attempt for freedom didn't go unnoticed as one of the shinobi drew a tip less tanto and sliced at her back, cutting her backpack open. With her opponent so close and the commonness of projectile weapons she had to face them, she couldn't keep her back turned.

Sliding her right arm from her backpack, she turned to face her opponents. In one smooth motion she tossed her torn backpack with her left arm, sending her food and camping supplies flying as the backpack spilled its contents into the air. While they were distracted she grabbed five shuriken and enhanced them with the cutting element of wind and threw them, catching two of her pursuers.

She did not know if they were dead or just injured, but they were down, and that was what mattered. Already the squad from the left side had appeared in the clearing and the one to her back would not be far behind. Continuing to the trees she was once more intercepted, this time by the squad coming from the right. They unleashed a hail of weaponry on her position.

Going through hand signs as quickly as she could, she casts the futon: great breakthrough sending the weapons into the trees themselves rather than back at the squad in her haste. Leaping into the trees she came across two more of these hunter nin, their tip less tantos ready and dripping a purple liquid.

Unarmed, she attempted to dodge her enemies before leaping to another branch, one of the enemies following her. Dodging around a thrust the ninja's tanto, she palmed the top of his forehead before shooting a chain through the man's skull. Dispersing the chain, she winces as she felt the poison in her system from where the sword had grazed her arm, her Shinigami given gifts already working to cure the affliction.

Sensing the other shinobi with the poisoned tanto leaping towards her branch she grabbed five of her remaining shuriken and launched them at his airborne body. He blocked, but she is already in motion, sending another three shuriken at the shinobi just before he lands on the branch. In the distraction caused by him blocking her attack she slips into his guard and buries a kunai directly into his heart.

"_Too long. The other squads are in the trees now. I can't afford to fight and I think they have a sensor with them." _

Hearing the sound of water she turns away from Fire Country and heads further into the Land of Tea. While she may have an affinity for the water element she did not want to get into a ninjutsu fight with a bunch of Kiri shinobi at a water source. She would continue to use her chains, weapons, and futon jutsu to facilitate her escape.

This would turn out to be a bad decision as the trees in this direction revealed their treachery. Attached to their bark, were multiple generic exploding tags, the tell tale sizzle from activation filling the air. Unable to react in time she threw her arms up, protecting her face from the explosion.

The concussive force would slam her back into a tree and the bark would shoot out like miniature projectiles, burying into her arms.

"_Whoever wants me dead, is well connected and has deep pockets. Explosive tags are not cheap, even the generic type. But how did they know where I would be? They had to know about my mission, it's the only way that they could have set this up."_

Struggling to her feet, Kushina struggled to bring her hands together, before silently casting the kage bunshin no jutsu. In a poof of smoke, three equally injured clones appeared by her side.

Without a word Kushina and her clones took off into the destroyed woods, splitting into different directions. _"Ha, even if they have a sensor they will have no choice but to split up and follow my clones. We have the same chakra signature."_

As Kushina ran she resisted the urge to cry out from pain, the concussive blasts from two explosions had damaged her legs. She was sure that the bones in her legs were at least cracked, and that her healing was working overtime just to stop them from breaking every time she applied pressure to them.

Crossing the destroyed trees she focused on her sensor once more. Her ploy had not worked. _"Blast them to the Void. How are they still following me? They're almost on top of me now." _

Kushina ran her injured hand through her hair in frustration, only for her hand to encounter something odd. Pulling the object from her hair she found it to be an insect. _"A beetle. No I have seen this before, this is a Kikaichu. But those belong to…Konoha!"_ Kushina thinks in alarm.

"Shadow possession jutsu, complete." Kushina heard from her left, as the 'Kiri' hunter nin emerged.

Kushina struggled to break free but it was too late. She saw as a ninja moved forward and stabbed her through the chest. _"Naruto" _Would be Kushina's last thought as her soul left her body and traveled to a certain seal that the Shinigami had placed many years ago.

"Mission complete." One of the shinobi spoke.

"No, it isn't. Squad four, go, kill Lord Ichiro and his family, he is the noble that Kushina delivered the scroll to. Make sure the people can clearly see your Kiri uniforms. Our orders are to make sure that Kiri takes the blame for the attack and Tea Country will seek protection from our own. Kushina-dono's valiant attempt to intercept us will be seen as Konoha protecting its neighbors." Spoke another of the Kiri clad shinobi. The commander of the assembled shinobi.

"Hai, taicho." Before one of the five man squads disappeared to murder the civilian noble and his family.

"You lot, secure her body, she died a hero, and Konoha likes to bury their heroes." The commander ordered.

This mission would be off books, just as they were ordered.

**So a lot happens in this chapter. We have both Sasuke and Naruto in the middle of a battlefield watching as people die, Kushina's death and subsequent arrival in the Shinigami's second seal, the introduction of Obito, and our first morally ambiguous scene done by a main character.**

**Also, before anyone flames me, I foreshadowed Kushina's death way back in Chapter 1 with the soul catcher seal. I would also like to point out that it shows something very important to the story, even a kage level ninja can die to the right trap. In this case Kushina was outnumbered, undersupplied, and operating with incorrect information, and she still kills four of them, and the fate of two unknown. With her starting the battle injured and disoriented, I think she did rather well.**

**As for the Uchiha Massacre that wasn't I hope you enjoyed the fight scenes and my hopefully unique take on this piece of history in the Naruto story. The incident also took place earlier in the story, so Sasuke was not out training during it; no he was in bed and woke to the world in flames.**

**As usual a shout out to all who read this story and have followed me into the fifth chapter, you all help make this possible. Also please review, this is my first fight scenes so tell me if you liked them or not. **

**As a personal request, can someone PM a website where I can find a list of jutsu for the story, I would appreciate it. **

**Finally, the vote stands with the nevermore and nix tied for first place and the shade and wraith tied in last place.**


	6. Chapter 6: Talks

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**First before we begin the story I want to thank everyone for reading my story so far. Also, to those who have reviewed, I in particular want to thank you. As a new writer on this site, your encouragement and at times constructive criticism has been greatly appreciated. But, you all didn't come here to read my thanks, so without further to do, here is Chapter six.**

Chapter 6: Talks

"Yes, I believe we do." Mikoto answered Sarutobi after taking in the surrounding area.

Pointing to notably intact building that had so far escaped the fire and the scars of battle Mikoto addressed the Hokage. "Would that location be suitable for our needs?"

The Hokage sparing only a glance at the building nods. "Yes, that will do just fine. We shall speak privately inside." The Hokage spoke while putting extra emphasis on the word privately. This would be a talk without their respective guards, without witnesses.

Nodding Mikoto left the few surviving Uchiha and joined Sarutobi in his walk to the building. Once inside they moved to the dining room. They took seats on the opposite sides of the traditional table, sitting on the mats on either side of the low table.

"Mikoto-san, before we begin, let us not be coy. I have neither the time nor the patience for it tonight." Sarutobi says as he takes out his pipe and lights it, while not showing Mikoto the respect of her position.

"Very well, Sarutobi-san. What is it you wish to discuss? I believe what happened here would be quite obvious." Mikoto says, throwing off the sama suffix normally used when addressing the Hokage.

"I want to discuss the future of your clan. I believe we can both agree that what happened tonight was a disaster for both sides, don't you agree." It wasn't a question.

"The loss of life on this day is by far a regrettable thing and I don't believe that Konoha needs anymore blood spilt this night. I believe that a deal can be made, but first I would like to hear what your plan was for your little coup." Sarutobi states while looking calmly into her eyes as he blows a puff of smoke into the air.

"I thought we agreed to not be coy, what is this deal that you believe can be made?" Mikoto asks, frustration leaking into her voice.

"But Mikoto-san I am not being coy, this all ties together. Now if you would please, what was your plan?" Sarutobi insists.

_"He's completely relaxed; he knows that I can't attack him. Even if I did, there is no guarantee I would win, in fact I'd probably lose, and what about the children outside. I have to play along." _Mikoto thought as the urge to attack the old Hokage began to fill her before she pushed it down.

"The plan was simply to inspire a vote of no confidence in the current Hokage. We knew that the Uchiha clan could not oppose the might of Konoha. That was even before taking into account the various shinobi garrisons spread throughout our country and the samurai forces that would respond to our rebellion. With the knowledge that we couldn't beat you in combat we decided to not follow the Uchiha way of using force and try a more subtle approach."

Mikoto sighs before continuing. "We decided that we would sabotage the ANBU barracks and cause the assassinations of many key personnel within Konoha, ranging from the ANBU commander, to the head of the hospital, even the Hokage candidate Shikaku. The assassinations would be carried out by various Uchiha spread throughout the ranks that had access to the assigned targets. Mainly we would use the Uchiha inside of the ANBU for these assassinations while we used the military police to create favorable conditions. When the power vacuum formed from the loss of these key individuals we would call a vote of no confidence in your leadership and have you removed from your office. The next Hokage would then be replaced by an Uchiha backed candidate or an actual Uchiha. If the worst should happen and we lose the selection, we would take advantage of the gaps in power and ingratiate ourselves to the new Hokage, assuming a more influential role in the running of Konoha." Mikoto explains.

"It was a good plan. Konoha's manpower would remain largely unaffected and our leadership could be replaced before a war took place. My spies had told me something similar. Now we get to the root of our deal." Sarutobi says, his facing maintaining an expressionless visage.

"And what is this deal?" Mikoto asked.

"The deal is simple. While I cannot have one of Konoha's founding clans declared a minor clan, I can cull most of your remaining influence. The Uchiha clan shall surrender control of the military police; you may cite your losses as an excuse. The Uchiha clan will also be subtly discouraged from entering the ANBU again, with all current members still alive, retiring, or they shall find their missions to be of a certain dangerous variety. Finally, the Uchiha clan head, you, shall publicly declare Itachi-san the instigator of all of this night's events, and a traitor to both your clan and Konoha. These terms are non-negotiable." Sarutobi offers.

Mikoto takes a moment to think before she gasps. "You need us. If the Uchiha clan doesn't declare Itachi-ku…san a traitor then you may lose your office. The shinobi outside don't know of the coup."

"No the shinobi outside do not know of your treasonous actions." Sarutobi answers.

"Then you can't attack us. As we did not leave records of our actions, any declaration of our supposed betrayal will be met with skepticism. Our own lack of readiness to attack will be noted. You will look like your covering your own ass. Then there is the hell Kushina-chan will raise over our destruction." Mikoto responded in challenge. _"He needs us."_

"You will find that your clan is without allies Mikoto-san. Kushina-san's influence will not be able to help you." Sarutobi responds coolly.

_"Kushina-chan"_ Mikoto thought worriedly. "What did you do to Kushina-chan?"

"Come now. Did you really expect Konoha to leave your collaborator alone? That Konoha would allow a kage level traitor with direct access and influence to our jinchuriki to live?" Sarutobi asks with an incredulous tone.

"But Kushina-chan wasn't involved" Mikoto answers in a biting tone as she hears about the death of another of her friends and loved ones.

"Then it seems that I have made a mistake, but don't worry I shall look after her son. No harm will come to him. That is my promise. But you can consider her death a product of your own actions. The Uchiha clan's treachery called the Uzumaki clan into question. Kushina-dono's loyalty wouldn't have been called into question if it hadn't been for your actions. Her death lies squarely on your shoulders." Sarutobi says with genuine remorse in the beginning before switching to anger at the end; while also attaching the dono suffix once more upon Mikoto's confirmation of Kushina's loyalty.

_ "Minato-kun, Kushina-dono, I will make sure Naruto-kun is safe. He will be a powerful and loyal shinobi of Konoha, just as you would have wanted. I hope the Sage can forgive me for my mistake."_ The third Hokage thought, making a promise to his dead successor/predecessor and loyal ally, unknowing of Kushina's own plans for betrayal.

"You kill my family and my friend, and you expect me to save your career. Do you really think I will support you?!" Mikoto more demanded then asked, as the quickly building rage from the night began to surface.

"I don't believe you understand. If you do not support me, I will order the death of your entire clan, starting with you, in this very room. If you do not agree to this deal then that is the end of your clan. I am perfectly willing to order the death of a clan of traitors. I think I can survive the fall out, and I am willing to take that risk." Sarutobi answered in a cold tone.

"So what do you choose? Do you sell out your eldest child, or do you sentence your clan to death? Choose now." The Hokage orders.

It is a choice that no mother would ever want to make. Does she condemn one child to save the rest of her family, including her youngest. Did she want to be responsible for the death of the remaining members of her family? _"I…I have to say yes. Even if the clan somehow escaped, we could never survive on our own, not after we were declared traitors…Itachi-ku…san made his choice. He sided with the Hokage, he will protect him. No, I can't think of him, he killed Fugaku-kun, he killed parts of our family. I have to protect what I have left."_

"Yes Hokage-sama, I will accept your deal." Mikoto finally spoke, saying the sama suffix as if it was poison.

"Fantastic. Now don't try anything funny, if you deviate from this deal, I will carry out my promise. Remember, you cannot tell anyone the truth of what actually happened tonight and it should be left unsaid that you cannot tell little Naruto-kun the truth about what happened to his mother. I don't have to tell you what would happen if the implied trust of this meeting were to be broken. I will be watching." Sarutobi threatened.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Mikoto spoke in a defeated tone as she rose from her seat, the Hokage joining her as she walked out of the building to address the surrounding shinobi.

"Fellow members of the Uchiha clan, honorable members of Konoha's shinobi force, we have been deceived. Uchiha, Itachi, my son and clan heir has for unknown purposes sought to cause a civil war in our homes. He dressed himself in his ANBU uniform and attacked us. In this confusion we allowed fear to cloud our minds, perhaps influenced by the Bloodline Massacre taking place in Kiri, but this is not Kiri and we should not have been so easily deceived. The Uchiha clan offers its apologies and sympathies to those who lost their lives from this betrayal. That is why, for his crimes we declare Itachi-san a traitor to the clan and with Hokage-sama's support, a traitor to Konoha and to Fire country. In accordance with this we strip Itachi-san of the Uchiha name and all titles that it had brought." Mikoto announced to the surrounding shinobi. Her eyes focusing on those not belonging to the Uchiha clan, the ones she was truly speaking to.

"All medical shinobi tend to the wounded, whether they be Uchiha or not. There shall be no more blood spilt this day. To all others gathered here today, I promise you Konoha shall have justice for this day. The traitor shall answer for his crimes. For now, collect your dead and extinguish these fires. Tomorrow shall be a day of mourning." Sarutobi spoke, before turning to head back to the Hokage Tower. He had a lot of work to do.

"Hokage-sama, I would like to oversee our dead. I do not wish for our clan's secrets to be vulnerable." Mikoto spoke to him, making sure her voice was loud enough for the surrounding shinobi to hear.

"Of course, it is your right. It is the right of every clan to protect its secrets." Sarutobi responded.

As medical personnel swarmed the wounded and ninja put out the fires in the compound, the death toll was counted. The Uchiha clan, once a clan with over four hundred people had almost been annihilated. Not even thirty people would now make up the Uchiha clan. The surviving clan would be made of sixteen children, eleven adults, and two elders.

Konoha's loses would also be devastating as the initial responders to the flares had not expected the Uchiha to attack. Of the shinobi that responded, slightly over two hundred and fifty had been killed in the resulting ambushes and battles. Genin, chunin, jonin, and ANBU were all killed during the fighting.

The news would only get worse as an ANBU squad arrived at the gates, carrying Kushina's body. While Kushina might have become estranged to the people of Konoha she had still been friends with a couple and fought alongside many others on the battlefield. To those that didn't know her, the loss of a kage level ninja would still affect their morale.

The Sandaime Hokage would call for a meeting below the tower, so that he could address the concerns of the public. This speech would take place after the Konoha Academy had finished its classes.

The sun attempted to break through the clouds and shine over a dreary Konoha. The village had had a rough night, and sleep had been hard to come by. The streets were filled with whispers of the Uchiha Incident as the news traveled from person to person. Families wept, as loved ones did not return last night, and Itachi's name was cursed.

Another piece of gossip would be of Kushina's death. It is to this knowledge that we turn our attention to Naruto. Naruto had awoken to this news after Mikoto had cast a genjutsu on him and the Uchiha children after her meeting with the Hokage was over, wanting the children to sleep and not see what lay outside the Naka Shrine.

After he had awoken he had heard the news and slipped out of the Uchiha compound and into the streets of Konoha. His face had tears running down it as he tried and failed to contain them. Despite the fact that his mother told him to never walk these streets alone, he was safe. Even with the lack of protection Kushina's death gave him, he would be left alone. Kushina's friends would make sure he was unharmed on this day.

Letting his feet guide him, the sad boy entered one of the many forested areas around Konoha and came across a collapsed structure. Curious, he wiped his tears and examined the building. The building was raised on stilts with a staircase leading to its entrance, which had collapsed some time ago. To the right of the building, its deck laid shattered, crashing into the ground, while the left looked unsteady, its supports chipped and broken. The rooftop is missing pieces, holes dot the area. But in the center of the collapsed entrance was his clan's symbol.

"_That's the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. I wonder what's inside." _Naruto thought as he slipped under the dilapidated entrance.

The inside of the building was not any better. It shows the signs of torn tapestries and stolen pieces of worship. Walking forward he approaches a fallen table in front of a wall covered in masks and examines it. By its overturned side he can see shattered glass and pieces of incense, evidence that this was a prayer table. Crouching down he tries to lift the table only for the cracked piece of furniture to break in his hand.

"_What happened here?"_ The young Uzumaki wondered as he turned his gaze to the wall in front of the table. The one part of the temple that was still intact.

On this wall there are several masks. All similar in design, a face with horns on top and recognizable to the child Uzumaki. _"These are Shinigami masks. That means this is a temple to the Shinigami!"_

It is as he thought this that his feet began to move, carrying him before the mask in the middle. The mask bore a fanged grin and dark eyes. Slightly curved horns pointed towards the broken ceiling. Reaching his hands up he attempted to grab the mask but could not reach it.

Not deterred the Uzumaki turned to the broken table and approached it once more. Grabbing a broken leg from the table he went back to the wall. Aiming the leg of the table he attempted to knock the mask from its perch.

Once, he missed sliding over the mask.

Twice, he missed once more, knocking an adjacent mask to the floor. Stopping he checked the fallen mask before sighing in relief. The mask was unbroken.

Third, he succeeded; the mask came free and fell into his hands after he dropped the leg of the table.

Looking into the mask's eyes, Naruto swore he saw them glow, before shaking his head. It was just a trick of the light. Now came the final part. He began to raise the mask to his face, hesitating only a second, as he felt for some odd reason that everything would change once he put the mask on his face.

Seemingly compelled he dismissed the thought and brought the mask to his face and put it on. The world around him changed as a presence filled the room, the air changing, becoming cold to the touch. In front of him a power so massive that it produced a weight of its own enveloped him and nearly drove him to the ground before it faded, and the world went quiet.

The boy looked through the eyes of the mask before blinking, and reaching up to rub his eyes. The being before him wore white robes and had grayish blue skin. His body slightly translucent as his dark eyes somehow shone with power and his teeth were pointed and sharp. The being before him is the Shinigami, his god.

"Shinigami-sama." Naruto greeted, giving a bow of his head to the god.

"**Uzumaki, Naruto. It is time you learn."** The Shinigami spoke, its voice full of power.

"Learn, Shinigami-sama?" Naruto questioned.

"**It is time to learn of your family's past. Long ago, before the rise of the Sage of Six Paths, the Uzumaki worshipped me, finding meaning in death. They never warded against death, never tried to cast me aside, the Uzumaki instead greeted me as if I were an old friend. Curious I appeared before them, and later blessed them with my gifts."**

"**As time passed the Uzumaki grew and despite the hardships that outsiders brought and discrimination against their views, the Uzumaki stayed loyal to their beliefs. Then they were betrayed. Your true home, the Land of Whirlpool was betrayed by the people of Fire, and an alliance born of Water, Lightning, and Earth, was created to destroy your home. Even this temple was desecrated by Konoha."**

"Konoha helped to destroy my clan." Naruto muttered, his voice quiet at the news of who was behind his family's destruction hit him. Growing up as a child he had heard stories of his clan from his mother and come to love them. They were his family and heritage. He had even promised his mother that he would rebuild their clan, that he would not allow them to be the last.

"**Even now your clan lies in hiding. Fearful of the other lands, declared infidels for their beliefs, my subjects live in suffering."**

"There are other Uzumaki alive! We have to find them." If there were other Uzumaki truly alive then he still had a family. He had to find them. His family needed help and family watched out for each other. He would save them, make them safe. Naruto would not allow his family to be separate for any longer.

"**Sadly I cannot help you, that is your task alone. You shall unite my followers, rebuild the Uzumaki clan."**

"By myself, but how, I'm just a kid?" Naruto wondered. He had thought that the Shinigami would help him unite his family. Now the task seemed so large to his young mind.

"**I cannot aid you directly in your task; the rules of the Gods forbid such things. But you have been gifted with much power and influence; you need only learn to use it. Ask your mother and you shall receive your answers and begin the start of your journey."**

"Kaa-san? But kaa-san is dead, how can she…" Naruto began to question. _"Is Shinigami-sama going to bring kaa-san back to life"_ The young boy thought in answer to his unasked question.

"**Your mother's soul lies not in the realm of the dead. At the time of your birth, I gifted you with a special seal. Your mother's soul lies in there and will awaken in one week's time. Learn from her and of her death."**

"Kaa-san." Naruto thought happily as looked down. He would be getting her back, at least in some form. Never again would he take her for granted, he would always be thankful to the Shinigami for this gift.

Naruto's vision turns hazy and he begins to stumble, as exhaustion began to settle in. Still Naruto struggles to stay standing refusing to appear weak before the Shinigami.

As the young Uzumaki attempts to remain standing, the Shinigami takes note. **"It seems that our meeting is coming to an end. Your spirit cannot keep me in this plane for much longer. So I leave you with this final thought. Konoha did not only steal from me, it stole from you as well."**

With that the Shinigami dispersed and Naruto fainted, his spirit tired from bringing the Shinigami into the physical plane. He would wake up with the dream to unite his clan once more and the strength to smile once again. As he attended the eulogy of all that died, the soul catcher seal that had been placed long ago began to softly glow. It would not be long before Kushina was with her son once more.

**Alright we have met the Shinigami once more and Naruto is once more shown. From now on these chapters will be mostly Naruto centric, so hurray for the main character.**

**The next couple chapters will be quick. One chapter before the academy begins, one – two chapters involving the academy (if two, the second will include graduation), and then ninja life begins.**

**I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I also thank all those who have stuck with me to this point. Review, critique, tell me what you think.**

**Finally, the poll for Naruto's summon will come to an end after Naruto graduates from the Academy and the Nix is currently winning, so if you have an opinion, vote now.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Passing of Time

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**Not human" God, biju, summon, Kushina**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner thoughts of a person_

**Alright it has been around a week since my last post but work has been hectic. So for your patience I give you the longest chapter I have written so far.**

Chapter 7: The Passing of Time

It has been a week since Naruto spoke with the God of Death and currently the young red head slept in his bed, but this sleep would not be accompanied by dreams. No, the soul inside of the Shinigami's seal had finally awakened.

Naruto clad once more in the monk style robes that were signature of the Uzumaki clan's dress. The white robes with red lining were slightly form fitting in design and was the outfit that the Uzumaki clan wore outside of battle.

Around the young Uzumaki was a meadow, the grass bright and tall, with a large weeping willow tree in the center. Running along the edge of the meadow he could make out a roaring river that separated the meadow from a rocky and treacherous terrain. This rocky area has a large cave in the center. Its entrance blocked by stone bars that give the cave the appearance of a jagged grin. On this cave he could see large black etchings, occasionally pulsing with power. The sky is cloudy and little streaks of lightning spark, bouncing between the clouds.

"Where am I?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Sochi-kun, this is your mindscape." A voice spoke from under the weeping willow.

"Kaa-san?" Naruto asked, turning towards the weeping willow and watching as the leaves were pushed aside.

From under the cover of the tree a body emerged. First, the young boy could only see the hand that pushed the leaves aside, then he could see the red hair, and soon the body had appeared. Standing in front of Naruto is his mother, wearing the same outfit as he.

"Kaa-san." Naruto shouted as raced forward, tackling the woman where she stood.

"Oh, Naruto, my little Naruto." Kushina spoke as a spackling of tears rolled down her eyes. She did not know how it happened nor did she care, but she was united with her son and to her that is all that mattered.

"Kaa-san, I missed you. Konoha said you died but then Shinigami-sama said you would awaken, and then he spoke about how our clan was destroyed, and that Konoha had betrayed our clan, and then…" Naruto began as he poured out the events of the week to his mother. He was rambling, he knew it, but he had missed her.

"Whoa, sochi. Slow down. Now you said that Shinigami-sama said that I would awaken?" Kushina asked as she continued to hold her son, a light laugh threatening to escape her mouth over her son's exuberance.

"Hai. Shinigami-sama said that he put a seal on me that would trap your soul if you died." The boy answered quickly, his arms still wrapped around his mother as he stared up at her from her stomach.

_"So that's what happened. Shinigami-sama must have added the seal when he sealed the Kyubi into Naruto." _Kushina thought as she stared down at her son.

"Come; sit with me by the tree. We have much to talk about." Kushina spoke as she reluctantly let go of her son, before guiding him to the trunk of the tree and sitting down. She patted the ground beside her, gesturing for her son to sit down.

As Naruto sat down he asked his mother a question. "Kaa-san you said that this place is my mindscape, but what is that?"

"Sochi-kun this place is a representation of your mind, of your very soul. The meadow is peaceful and the grass is tall and healthy, this is because this is where you feel most at peace and the grass shows that you are healthy. The tree we are sitting beside is a representation of my seal. And the clouds and lightning shows that you are troubled, worried, or confused." Kushina kindly explains to her son, drawing on her own experience with mindscapes from her past experience as a jinchuriki and the knowledge the Uzumaki had gained of the spiritual world.

"But what about the rocky area or the river? What do they mean?" Naruto asked.

"The river is a barrier. It separates the meadow from the rocky area. As for the rocky area, we will talk about that soon. Just don't cross the river, not until I say you are ready. Can you do that for kaa-san?" Kushina explains before urging her son not to cross the river without her permission.

"Hai." Naruto says happily. The boy did not care about the rocky terrain, it may look interesting to him but his kaa-san is in the meadow. He currently had no desire to visit the perilous area.

"Good. Sochi-kun do you know how I died?" Kushina asks her son bluntly, unsure of how to broach the topic in a tactful enough manner that her five year old son would understand.

"No but Shinigami-sama said that I should ask you." The boy answered.

"That's because you're in danger. After I completed my mission I was ambushed on the road by several teams of shinobi, shinobi from Konoha. Konoha killed me." Kushina spoke as gently as she could.

"Konoha…Konoha killed you." The boy mumbled softly staring into his lap.

Continuing to stare into his lap the boy spoke once more. "That's what Shinigami-sama meant when he said that Konoha stole from me. Why does Konoha keep hurting our clan?"

"Hurting our clan? What do you mean?" Kushina asks, unsure of what her son meant when he said that Konoha had been hurting her clan. Not knowing of the hand that the village and their country had played in the destruction of her country.

"They betrayed our clan before the Second World War. They helped Lightning and Water to destroy our home. Even Earth was in on it." Naruto answered; the comfort of his mom's presence allowing him to talk about what had been bothering him since he spoke with the Shinigami.

_"Damn them to the void." _Kushina thought. Konoha had helped to destroy her clan and she had fought for them. She could not believe she served as a shinobi under Konoha's banner.

"Naruto-kun it is very important that you listen to me. You must get out of Konoha." Kushina urged.

"Hai. I don't like it here anymore anyway. Since you died and the Uchiha clan was nearly destroyed the glares have gotten worse." The boy answered. Naruto knew because his mother had told him from a young age that if he went out of his home or the Uchiha compound he must have either her or an Uchiha around to be safe. He had noticed that Konoha was getting decidedly unfriendly now that his protection is nearly gone.

"The Uchiha clan?" Kushina mumbled under her breath before looking her son in the eye. "You must be careful. You can't just leave. Things are not as simple as you might think."

"Why kaa-san? You taught me some of the laws of Konoha. I am not a shinobi; I don't have to ask the Hokage to move. I can just leave Konoha, maybe slip across the border." Naruto spoke, his voice getting slightly excited as he remembered the stories his mother had read to him growing up.

"Sochi-kun you are not a normal person. You are the last of the Uzumaki…" Kushina began before she was interrupted by her son.

"No I'm not. Shinigami-sama said that there were more Uzumakis in hiding. I'm going to unite them." Naruto interjects.

"That's great news. I will help you to unite our clan but for now you must stay in Konoha. You are the last known Uzumaki and you are something else. You are a jinchuriki." Kushina explains.

"Kaa-san what's a jinchuriki?" Naruto asks.

"A jinchuriki is someone that has a seal on them that holds something very powerful. A jinchuriki's seal holds a biju and yours holds the Kyubi just as I did before you. The shinobi world views people like us as weapons and Konoha will not give up their jinchuriki without a fight." Kushina explains.

"Is that the reason that people glare at me?" Naruto asks.

"Hai."

"But that is stupid. Don't they know how seals work?! If the seal turned us into the Kyubi then there would be two Kyubis not one…Wait if the tree is a representation of your seal then the cave would be…" Naruto says untroubled by the revelation of his status. If his mother was one then it could not be a bad thing.

"Hai. The cave is a representation of the fox's seal. Also most people have no knowledge of fuinjutsu and how it works. It is even rarer to meet a seal master, someone who could understand a jinchuriki's seal. This fear is increased by those that have seen, heard, or experienced the devastation a jinchuriki can bring to the battlefield. You must be careful." Kushina warns.

"So they are just confused?" Naruto asked.

"No. Jinchuriki have existed for a long time, starting with Mito Uzumaki. If they lash out at you then they are in the wrong. Never allow anyone to hurt you. Promise me." Kushina states adamantly. She would not allow her son to be hurt by the 'misguided'. She did not care about them, she cared for her son, and what mother would allow anyone to harm her child.

"Hai kaa-san."

"Good." Kushina says before lying down, dragging her son into her embrace. "Let's go to sleep. When you wake we will begin your training."

"Kaa-san is it wrong to hate?" Naruto whispers into his mother's chest.

"No. Sometimes people do things that are unforgivable. Why?" The mother answered, unsure of how she should answer this question.

"Well, it's that our family has been harmed by so many people. I wanted to know if it was wrong that I wanted them punished." The young boy answered.

Giving her son a quick squeeze of reassurance she answered. "It's only human to feel that way."

"Then I hope that one day I can bring to justice those who hurt my family. Like the Uchiha clan did before the incident." Naruto says, not yet realizing the implications of what he had said.

"Naruto-kun I don't think…just be careful. There is a fine line between justice and vengeance. For now go to sleep." With that said Kushina began to hum a lullaby to her son and he began to close his eyes. Soon Naruto was asleep and though Kushina no longer needed to sleep herself, she too closed her eyes. _"I don't think you realize what type of justice your goal needs. Konoha alone is a great enemy, I hope that you will realize this. I would rather you escape and unite our family then die."_

* * *

After the Uchiha Incident the world once more found itself on the brink of war. Fire Country, the nation with the most prosperous lands and strongest military had been left vulnerable and the other nations began to circle, but once again the Elemental Nations would decide against war. The other four superpowers of the Elemental Nations had no desire for the conflict and without their support the smaller nations had no desire to challenge even a weakened Fire Country.

The Land of Water would desire peace simply because of the bloodline massacres started by their own kage, Yagura, plunging the country into chaos. The Mizukage's actions were beginning to cause a civil war to form in the Water Daimyo's country. To make matters worse for the Water Daimyo he was beginning to lose control of the outlying islands that made up his country, forcing the daimyo to deploy his samurai to them in an attempt to keep order. Their political situation would only worsen when they received word that the Land of Tea was ceasing all political ties with their country and instead had joined the Land of Fire as an ally after an assassination of one of Tea Country's nobles.

The Land of Lightning would stay out of it for a simple lack of allies and political strength. After the Hyuga Incident and how close they came to starting the next world war they felt that the Land of Fire could easily rally allies to their side. They could not afford to be the instigators of the next war. The Lightning Daimyo would also desire peace due to his sister, Lady Shijimi, being married to the Fire Daimyo.

The Land of Wind would simply not be able to afford a war. Their current daimyo had begun to take funding from Suna and its own samurai forces, preferring to use the money for more lavish expenses. He felt that with the country's desert and its sands he only needed a minimal defense force to keep his country safe. Already nobles felt concern for the future of their country as the military is diminished and the rumors of royal bastards began to grow.

Finally the Land of Earth would also decide against taking advantage of Fire Country's weakness. With the advice of Onoki, the current Tsuchikage, the country would adopt a wait and see approach. Onoki believed that if Earth Country invaded Fire Country that once the forces of Earth were victorious they would never enjoy the spoils of victory and that the other countries would attack their diminished forces. This was also compounded by the fact that Earth Country, the most negatively affected country from the Third World War, was finally beginning to recover from the war.

* * *

Naruto Age 5:

Currently inside of Naruto's home we find the young redhead sitting in the same room his mother had once taught him. He is currently meditating with the table that once sat propped against the wall in front of him. On its surface you can see an inkwell and a brush, as well as papers with various seal designs strewn across its surface. He had been practicing seals, guided by the voice of his mother from the Shinigami's seal.

Much had changed over the last few months after the death of Naruto's mother and the once innocent boy was rapidly being forced to mature. One such change is that he is now the only known Uzumaki in the Land of Fire and with that he had new responsibilities. This status made him the new clan head of the Uzumaki clan and technical owner of a seat on the council though his age and lack of adult status caused him to be denied his seat. Since he couldn't take up his seat on the council he asked Mikoto, the new clan head of the Uchiha clan, if she would act as regent for him.

There were restrictions of course. With his mother's advice he was able to make it so that while Mikoto could use his vote during council meetings, something that didn't seem to go over with well with the Hokage, that he still retained control over the inner workings of his clan. Meaning anything from marriage contracts to finances, his mother had been particularly insistent on marriage contracts.

It did not take him long to find out why. It seemed that with Kushina's death, the clans decided that they wanted the Uzumaki 'bloodline' in their clan. The belief seemed to be that with his youth and lack of political knowhow, they could get him to join their clan through marriage, taking control of the Uzumaki techniques, finances, and gaining the Uzumaki bloodline. There were also plans for if they could not get him into their clan. The power of a second seat on the council is a powerful lure. If it wasn't for his mother whispering in his ear about how to be polite but still turn down their offers, he might have found himself betrothed or even married.

If the threat of marriage was not enough, Naruto had also started to have trouble with the Uzumaki District. To be more exact what used to be the Uzumaki District. With Kushina's death, her protection and her connections no longer kept the district safe from those who disliked the young jinchuriki and soon the properties were vandalized. To make matters worse, business had been nonexistent. After the Hyuga incident business had been bad but now people refused to make use of a jinchuriki's business and those that did, sought to take advantage of him. It was with much reluctance that his mother and he agreed to sell all of the Uzumaki properties in Konoha except his home and the old temple. The current plan was to sell the home and move into the old Shinigami temple on the outskirts of Konoha once the place was livable and secure. On the bright side he still maintained the legitimate businesses outside of Konoha.

The final change to his life was the boldness of Konoha's people. In the past the threat of his mother's power and influence kept Konoha's populace from striking out at him; with her now gone the people felt little fear in expressing their hatred. Luckily attempts at physical violence were violently repelled by the Hokage's ANBU, who likely had orders to make sure no harm fell on Konoha's weapon. While the ANBU protection might have stopped physical abuse it did not stop the citizens of Konoha from finding other ways to make life miserable for him.

Currently Naruto was meditating as he felt for his chakra and the spiritual energy gifted to his clan by the Shinigami. Digging deeper he found his chakra, it felt soothing and fast, though turbulent when prodded.

_"I will have to work on my chakra control." _The boy thought after he prodded his chakra, feeling as the energy resisted his touch.

_**"Yes, you will. But continue with your lesson, find your spiritual energy." **_Kushina instructed from seal, picking up on her son's errant thought.

Naruto mentally nodded his head before digging once more into himself. He would figure out how to block stray thoughts from his mother another day. Digging past the chakra he found a new energy, different and yet familiar. This new energy was strange, somehow feeling like he was touching himself, like the energy was made up of everything that made him who he is.

_"Got it."_ The boy mentally thought to his mother.

**"Good. Now pulse the energy. Like when you toss a rock into water and it ripples." **Kushina coached from inside of the seal.

Using the mental picture his mom's words caused he pushed down on the energy. At first he struggled, the energy did not want to be moved. It was content to remain where it was. The second attempt was much like the first, a failure. On the third he attempted to move it like he had when he unlocked his chakra and felt it move, but it still didn't go far. On the fourth attempt he finally got it to move through his body, moving much like he would move chakra. Sadly it was not a pulse more of a flow of energy.

Feeling the energy move from inside of her son's body Kushina began to talk to her son. **"Not like that. Spiritual energy is the energy of your soul, it responds to your desires. It does not behave the same way as chakra nor should you try to control it in the same manner. Nudge it, send your thoughts to it, and it will respond."**

_"Okay. Pulse. Splash. Ripple." _The young Uzumaki thought as he attempted to communicate with the energy.

As the young Uzumaki mentally prodded the energy it began to respond and soon began to ripple. Then it moved from his body, creating a dome that spread around the house. Suddenly he could feel another's presence outside of his home. He could feel unique things that he could not describe, it was dizzying. Then it was over, the energy was back in place, the presence gone.

_"What was that?"_ Naruto questioned.

** "That was the Uzumaki version of sensor training. What you felt was the presence of one of the ANBU outside our home. The things that you could not describe were the ANBU's own spirit, the ANBU's emotions. The most proficient members of our clan at this type of sensing called it the Mind's Eye of the Kagura."**

** "With this technique you will always know where your enemies are and who you can trust. Skilled users can even expand their senses for miles. It is a technique that all Uzumaki can use, making us the only clan of sensors in the Elemental Nations to my knowledge." **Kushina explained.

_"Awesome. You're saying that's what I am learning."_ Naruto responded excited to learn a new technique.

**"Hai, this is what you will learn to do. By the time you have mastered it you will be able to do this subconsciously. You will not make your kaa-san's mistake." **Kushina spoke, her voice growing rather stern at the end.

_"Your mistake?" _Naruto questioned.

**"Hai, my mistake. I never mastered this technique and had to consciously activate it. This mistake helped to lead me to my death; you will not make the same mistake."** Kushina's said in her 'I'm your mother' voice.

_"Hai." _Naruto answered.

**"Alright, now Naruto your range is currently small, but that is workable, we will work on expanding your range later. For now we will have you activate the sensor as often as you can while I guide you through the feelings you receive from those your technique contacts. Later we shall have you learn to distinguish from humans and animals." **Kushina explained to her son.

Reaching out to his spirit energy once more Naruto began to send his message. _"Pulse. Ripple."_

His message would be interrupted as his mother interrupted him. **"What are you doing? You don't have to actually think the message. That is actually a learning technique. Remember how the energy moved when you used it. Coax it; only use the words as a last resort."**

Reaching out to the energy he tried to replicate what had happened before. Unfortunately the ANBU had moved outside of his range so he could no longer feel the ANBU's emotions but he could practice the technique. At first he would struggle to activate the sensor and have to actually think his thoughts to his spirit energy but eventually he would learn to activate it without the training wheels. It was a first step; he had learned to use the most basic form of the sensor technique and could now use his spirit energy.

**"That's enough for the day, it's getting late. We will continue to practice this after seal practice tomorrow. Clean up and get ready to bed. Grab a book, I will read it to you before you go to sleep." **Kushina spoke from inside of the seal.

Naruto got up from his position, stumbling as his legs were asleep from sitting on the floor for so long before leaving the room. He would leave the seal notes on the table, his mother and he would go over his work during seal practice.

Brushing his teeth and picking out a book from the bookcase in his bedroom, he crawled into his nontraditional bed and opened the book. This activity had become a tradition once Kushina had awakened in the seal. Upon the embarrassing discovery that his mother could see everything he did through his eyes, Kushina decided to take advantage of this by reading a story to her son each night, and making him tell her when a word confused him. Once the story was read he would slip into his mindscape and curl up with his mother and go to sleep.

In the morning he would eat a piece of fruit before he practiced his taijutsu and shower before his mom guided him through breakfast. His mom would then teach him about math, history, language, politics, science, etc. Once done she would once again help through the preparation of a late lunch before he practiced chakra control and his Henge. Finally, he would have dinner and work on his seals, with sensing practice after that.

This is the schedule the five year old redhead would follow with little variation for some time, though he would always sleep in the arms of his mother once night had fallen. Over the rest of this year Naruto's schedule would have a special jutsu added to it once he had mastered the illusionary Henge and moved onto to the solid Henge.

* * *

Naruto Age 6:

Naruto's schooling had changed once he learned the special technique his mother had provided him. This technique was the original version of the Kage Bushin, the Uzumaki version. The Uzumaki version of this technique is a mix of chakra and spirit energy that creates a sturdier version of the clone created by its pure chakra cousin. The technique is created by sending a sliver of your spiritual energy, a piece of your soul, into an empty shell. Also while both versions of the technique pass along information, the Uzumaki version passes the information more clearly than the chakra version. Sadly the Uzumaki version could not be cast in large numbers without certain precautions or risks.

While Naruto and Kushina might have begrudgingly admitted that the Nidaime Hokage's technique was superior in general, the Uzumaki version is the only clone that can activate Uzumaki seals and is sturdier than its chakra counterpart making it superior for their clan's use.

With this technique learned, Naruto found his schedule vastly changed. Since Kushina could not transfer with him, she would have Naruto create multiple clones that would study various subjects while she would have the original act as a mouthpiece for her, using his body to teach a classroom full of his clones, correcting their mistakes. To Naruto it seemed weird to relay what his mother said to his clones and correct his own work under her guidance and while the beginning was rocky, the method proved effective.

Another thing that changed was that his chakra began to get more firmly under his control. Through the use of his clones and chakra memory, the chakra version of muscle memory, he began to get his turbulent chakra under control. It also allowed him to more carefully examine his Henge for any flaws, making sure that the technique was perfect.

The clones even gave him partners for his taijutsu. The sturdiness allowing the clones to take a couple of hits before they popped. His mother said that the clones would be able to take even more as he grew older and more skilled in the technique's usage. Even the running of katas were different as he would sometimes stand off to the side and watch a clone, letting his mother once more use him as a mouthpiece to correct the clone on his stances. The knowledge of the stances would be passed along in the form of muscle memory when the clone dispelled.

But it was in seals that he most improved. With clones he had people to test his creations on. He also was able to truly delve into seals, his clones could study scrolls on sealing while he drew one under his mother's guidance. Naruto would come across many seals, but two seals would truly gather his attention. These two seals would be the Animation Seal and the Listening Seal. Those two seals would become the main focus of his seal studies.

The Animation Seal is a seal he had begun to practice in the privacy of his home in a place where no windows could see. The seal allowed him to animate an inanimate object, say a suit of armor and use it as a soldier under his command. It is an Uzumaki seal that no other has been able to copy because it is risky for even an Uzumaki. This pure spirit energy seal requires the user to connect their soul with the object and bring it to life, when dispelled against the user's will it will cause the user a great deal of pain, even death if used incorrectly. Chakra versions of this seal were deemed impossible after several seal masters destroyed their own chakra network trying to replicate the seal.

The Listening Seal was simply a common spy seal that had never been generalized. Naruto felt that the seal was limited and could be improved upon. With the knowledge of an Uzumaki version of the seal, he desired to make a new version of the seal, a better one. His mother's story about her ambush and how her lack of information and carelessness had made it so that he believed information can be just as powerful as power itself.

The final change in his learning was only partially due to this new technique. Kushina believed that with his growing maturity forced upon him by the village he lived in and his expanding knowledge it was time to teach him about the criminal underworld. She taught him of her connections and how she tried to get them out of Konoha. She also taught how powerful such connections can be, even for shinobi and samurai. Kushina taught him that he could not see things in black in white, for grey existed between the two colors.

* * *

It is currently rather late and the sun is starting to set as Naruto walks down the street of Konoha in his usual robed appearance as he heads to his home, an occasional pulse of his sensor alerting him to the ANBU shadowing him from the rooftops of nearby buildings. He had just finished visiting the Uchiha compound. The compound had resembled a damaged ghost town as it had not yet been fully repaired since the Uchiha Incident and its inhabitants had moved to the center so as to stay together. He had even run into the now married and recent father Shiteru Uchiha as he was teaching Uchiha children in the courtyard how to access their chakra. The man had apparently married Setsuna Uchiha not long after the Uchiha Incident and had a baby girl not long after. He had even met her when he saw Setsuna holding her child as she watched her husband, before he was pointed in Mikoto's direction.

Sadly his Mikoto-basan was tired. The cremation of the Uchiha dead had passed with little difficulty with only a strange ANBU having been caught and killed by the Uchiha guards when he attempted to harvest the eyes of the deceased members of their clan. Mikoto herself was feeling the pressure that came with two council votes as civilians attempted to curry her favor. Then there were the Uchiha properties to consider, she had little experience and allowed civilian businessman to entrench themselves and was currently struggling against them. Apparently while many of the civilians now found the clan to be tragic, this did not stop others from attempting to take advantage of the inexperienced Mikoto. Finally she was under pressure to marry once more by the elders.

_"I wish they would leave Mikoto-basan alone and Sasuke-san isn't helping." _Naruto thought.

Sasuke had taken the incident badly. Where he was once kind and fun to play with, he was now quiet and withdrawn. He had developed an obsession with his brother that was only slightly more powerful than his obsession with his remaining family. He had even started to preach the old Uchiha adage about power. With this new belief he had started to ignore his family in the pursuit of the very power he desired to avenge and protect them with. While Naruto could understand the desire to kill Itachi, even respect it, he did not like how Sasuke had changed. They had even fought when he decided to visit Sasuke and he said that Naruto was wasting his time. Naruto was unsure of his feelings for his old friend at this moment, especially when he brought up his dead mother and said he didn't have a family anymore and that he wouldn't understand.

_"Stupid Sasuke, of course I understand. Konoha killed my mother but I was lucky enough to get her back. I was just saying that he should treasure his family." _Naruto thought darkly.

Ignoring the glares around him he continued to walk before his stomach growled. He was hungry and he didn't feel like cooking. Taking a look around he found himself surrounded in a sea of glares. He did not feel comfortable.

"Hey are you alright?" A voice says from behind him as a hand touches his shoulder.

Barely stopping himself from screaming in surprise he begins to turn around. _"Stupid baka. This is why kaa-san says to always keep your sensor active. So this doesn't happen." _The boy thought, stressing the word always as he activated his sensor.

Once Naruto turns around he notices a girl with long brown hair and a slender appearance. She is wearing a simple white kimono top over loose black pants. Her face is fair and her eyes bright with a small smile on her face as she looked at him. Even more surprising was that this girl maybe five years older than him was being genuine, his sensor only picking up warm emotions. She was being nice to him.

_"Who is she?" _Naruto thought.

"No I am fine. Thank you for asking." Naruto responded remembering his mother's lessons on being polite. Shinigami-sama only knew what his mother would say if he was rude to one of the few people genuinely nice to him.

It is as he said this that his stomach growled once more bringing an embarrassed flush to the boy's face. "You sound hungry." The girl says with a pleasant laugh.

"Well just a little. I was just about to get something to eat, but I haven't decided where yet." Naruto responds while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He had no idea how to respond to someone like this girl.

Grabbing his arm she begins to excitedly drag the boy behind her. "Come on. I know just the place." The girl says over her shoulder.

"What, wait. What are you doing?" Naruto questioned his emotional control broken by the suddenness of the action.

"I'm taking you somewhere to eat silly." The girl responds with a carefree air, a bright smile threatening to split her face.

Bewildered Naruto responds, "But I don't even know you."

"I'm Ichiraku, Ayame. What's your name?" Ayame answers back.

"Uzumaki, Naruto." Naruto answers while pulsing his sensor and taking comfort in the fact that he can still detect his ANBU guards. The girl had apparently not known his name, who knew what would happen now that she knew. Imagine his surprise when the girl just continued to smile and he didn't feel the coldness he had come to associate with negative emotions. The girl didn't care.

_"Is this what people meant when girls are strange?" _The boy wandered.

**"Girls aren't strange, we're just complex. Go with her you need to socialize more." **Kushina answered from inside of the seal.

Soon he was in front of a small stand that had seen better days. The girl… Ayame, threw aside the curtains and spoke loudly. "Tou-san, customer."

As the girl went around the counter a man appeared from the back. The man that appeared was dressed in a similar manner to his daughter only with a blue apron tied to his front. His hair was short and turning grey, and he seemed to be balding as he put on a chef's cap. The man paused when he saw Naruto but then smiled. "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, I am Ichiraku, Teuchi. May I take your order?"

Once more the Uzumaki used his sensor as he climbed onto a stool, the whole experience seeming surreal to him. Once again he got positive feelings. These people were different.

**"Sochi-kun I know this place. I used to eat here with your father before you were born. They're good people." **Kushina reassured from the seal. She knew that her son was going through a hard time. Outside of the Uchiha clan and herself every person he met seemed to hate him or want something from him. To see two people just wanting to be nice was sadly a strange experience for her son.

"Yes, thank you Ichiraku-san. What would you recommend?" Naruto spoke formally. He was unused to social situations and was drawing on his political training in an attempt to make a good impression.

"Why are you being so formal? You're a kid, relax." Ayame answered before her father could while she dragged over a stepping stool to stand on behind the counter. She was not yet tall enough to comfortably see over the counter.

"I…I…okay. But could you tell me what you would recommend?" Naruto answered, the girl's presence confusing him once more.

"What haven't you had ramen before?" Ayame questioned her face now close to his as she stood on her stool.

"No. My kaa-san apparently came…" He paused as Ayame gave him a mock glare. Collecting himself he tries again, trying to be less formal. "My kaa-san ate here but I have not. She thought ramen too unhealthy so it wasn't on the menu." Naruto said awkwardly, hoping that he was informal enough for her taste.

**"You are going to have to practice this. I will not have my son be such a stick in the mud."** Kushina lamented from the seal. Her son is socially stunted, she knew this, but it was sad that he had such a hard time being carefree.

Before Naruto could respond Ayame was laughing. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now because you're cute I am going to do you a favor."

"A favor?" Naruto wondered. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the concept of Ayame, were all girls this confusing? Would Setsuna's baby be just as confusing?

"Yep. I am going to make you the best bowl of ramen ever." With that the girl hopped off the stool and began to drag it into the back. On the way she grabbed a blue apron and began to tie it around her waist before grabbing a white bandanna and tying it around her hair.

"But I didn't pick a flavor." Naruto cries out. Not realizing that he had just been informal.

"It's a surprise. Be patient." Ayame responds with a wave of her hand.

As Ayame disappeared into the back, Naruto's bewildered face turns to the girl's father. Teuchi instead of answering the boy's unasked question just begins to laugh. Confused Naruto turned away.

_"Is it me?"_ Naruto thought.

**"No sochi-kun it's not you. Well not entirely." **Kushina answers. Though Naruto could have sworn he heard laughter from seal after she answered.

The wait wasn't long before Ayame came out once again with a steaming bowl of ramen in her hands. The stool that she had been dragging around being carefully kicked in front of her as she brought it back to the counter.

"Here let me take that." Teuchi said as he scooped the bowl of ramen out of her hands, letting her stoop down and grab her stool and quickly bring it to the counter.

"Tou-san don't give it to him. I made it; I get to give it to him." Ayame cried as she began to stand on the stool and saw her father about to give Naruto her creation.

"Alright Ayame-chan." Teuchi said in surrender as he hands the bowl to his daughter.

Grabbing the bowl from her father Ayame quickly turns back to Naruto with the bowl in her hand. "Here." The girl says with her now familiar smile on her face before placing the bowl in front of Naruto.

Naruto cautiously looks down at the noodle soup and sees the appropriate toppings and that it looked edible, in fact it looked delicious to him. Reaching out he grabs a pair of chopsticks before grabbing a bite and bringing it to his mouth. Blowing on it he takes a bite. His eyes widen as the taste assault his mouth.

_"It's good. Really good." _Naruto thought before quickly reaching for another bite.

"So what do you think?" Ayame says with a cocky smile.

"It's really good. You are an excellent cook Ayame-san." Naruto exclaims momentarily forgetting himself as he indulges in the girl's cooking.

Ayame blushes at the boy's praise coming from the unnaturally polite boy. Both embarrassed at his words and happy that she had broken through his shell. Shaking off her blush she replies. "I know right. I am going to be a world famous chef when I grow up."

"I believe that you can do it Ayame-san." Naruto immediately answers before putting another bite in his mouth.

"Muu… Don't call me san, I'm not that old. I am still cute, call me chan." Ayame says with a pout, noticing that he had said san to her name both times.

Taking a look at the girl Naruto freezes before answering, wondering why this girl affected him so easily. "Ayame-chan." Naruto conceded as he finished the bowl.

"See and I will call you Naruto-kun." Ayame said with a teasing smile enjoying the reactions she could get out of the boy.

Behind her Teuchi hid his grimace. He did not mind Naruto or the fact he was a jinchuriki, he just didn't like his daughter calling any boy, no matter how old, kun. In his mind she couldn't do that till she was thirty.

While Teuchi hid the overprotective father inside of every man Naruto blushed. It was the first time a girl or anyone close to his age had called him kun. The laughter coming from his mindscape did little to help his embarrassment. "Ah Ayame-chan what flavor was that?" The boy nervously asked.

"Miso. Would you like another?" Ayame asked.

"You'd make me another? Really, that would be awesome." Naruto spoke sounding his own age.

"You really want me to make another. You weren't just being polite. You really like it." Ayame spoke excitedly. She had confidence in her cooking but usually people ask for her father to cook for them not trusting her age or treating her cooking like a fluke.

"Of course, you're a great cook." Naruto immediately responds.

"Okay Naruto-kun just because you love my cooking so much I will make you another." With that Ayame dashed into the back carrying her stool with her, excited that Naruto truly liked her cooking.

Just like before the ramen did not take long to prepare and soon Ayame with the help of her father was back on her stool at the counter presenting the bowl to Naruto. "Enjoy Naruto-kun." Ayame says happily.

Nodding his head and taking a bite Naruto lets out a small moan at the taste. The ramen he was eating was better than the last bowl. Soon the redhead finished his second bowl of ramen before turning to the girl once more. "This was really good Ayame-chan. Thank you."

After he thanked the girl he turned to Teuchi. "How much do I owe?"

"Since this is your first time here the first bowl is free. So ten ryo." Teuchi answers. Truthfully he had given the boy the first bowl free because of how his daughter got along with him as well as seeing the signs of ramen lover in the young redhead.

After Naruto paid Ayame spoke up once more. "Will you come again?"

"Will I be able to taste the food of a world renowned chef again?" Naruto spoke playfully, trying his hand at teasing while sincerely wishing to taste the girl's food once more.

It took Ayame a second to catch what Naruto had said before she smiled so brightly that Naruto could have sworn it would outshine the sun. "Hai. I will make you a bowl of ramen even better than the last." Ayame was ecstatic that Naruto had liked her food so much.

"Then I will see you soon Ayame-chan." With those words Naruto walked off only hearing the girl shout out in answer, "Bye Naruto-kun." If either had turned to look at Ayame's father they would have seen a strained look on his face, as he battled his fatherly instincts. The man really didn't like a boy calling his little girl chan or his daughter calling a boy kun, only the reminder that Naruto was six kept his fatherly side at bay.

"**So did you enjoy talking to your girlfriend?"** Kushina teased from inside of the seal. As his mother it was her duty to tease her son over such things.

"_Kaa-san she's not my girlfriend!" _Naruto answered his mother's blatant teasing. Little did he know that this encounter would be the birth of his first crush.

* * *

Naruto Age 7:

It was Naruto's birthday and he had put his first plan in a bid for power into play. Over the last couple of months he had planned and plotted and he believed that he was ready. He had been lucky that no one knew the extent of his shinobi knowledge and that none of his ANBU guards knew that he could use the Kage Bushin. Taking advantage of their lack of information he had taken to leaving a Kage Bushin in plain view of the ANBU and sneaking out using his sensor ability to avoid his ANBU guards before casting a solid Henge over himself.

With liberal uses of the Henge to assume multiple identities the young Uzumaki had met with several of Kushina's old contacts in the underworld of Konoha, trying to assume control of Kushina's old network. In his Henged forms he had provided proof of his connection to his mother by providing her personal symbol, a crashing wave with a whirlpool in the center. Sadly after Kushina's death her control over parts of the Konoha underworld fell under the control of others. Luckily there were enough people who wanted to meet his Henged self's employer that he had something to work with.

With that he created Nise, Sagi. The Henge was of a man in his young thirties with short black hair and tanned skin. He is also average in height and wears one of two outfits, either a pure black kimono or a black western style business suit, depending on the meeting. With his in depth knowledge of all of Kushina's past business dealings and her personal seal, he found that he was able to gain control of what remained of Kushina's network in Konoha.

With their acquisition he had poured clan resources into strengthening his position in the underworld before turning to the next step in his enterprise. He was going to take over Konoha's underground in one swift and brutal move. However, the current head of the underground, Hanzai Mori, reigned unopposed and was firmly entrenched. His only rivals being his own lieutenants and a couple of upstarts like Naruto himself.

So he had wandered how to remove the competition and the answer came simply. Naruto did not personally have to remove the competition; he only had to be ready to seize control. Naruto had found out that the head of Konoha's underworld had lost his family in the Kyubi attack and with this knowledge he made his plan. While Hanzai was not stupid enough to touch Konoha's jinchuriki, that didn't matter, people only had to believe his story.

Letting out a sigh Naruto stretched his sensor out and felt the four ANBU guards split off and respond to the two separate incidents he had organized to distract their attention. It had been surprisingly easy to find people willing to act like a drunken mob intent on 'finishing what the Yondaime started' if it meant that Konoha's jinchuriki would be vulnerable. With the ANBU distracted Naruto left his home and slipped down the street, using his sensor to keep ahead of the ANBU, chuckling slightly in his mind that people who wished him harm were actually helping his plan to succeed.

Once on the street he began to head towards an abandoned building in a part of the old Uzumaki District. It was in this building that his plan would come into play. Naruto as Sagi had lured one of the Hanzai's more ambitious lieutenants to the building, using the man's desire to overthrow his boss to keep the meeting secret. With knowledge of the location and the ability to slip his ANBU guards the boy had prepared the small building with an Uzumaki Listening Seal as well as an explosive seal.

Before Naruto reached the building he created three Kage Bushins and Henged them into random people. These clones would spread rumors of the attack through the crowd and how there was an attack on the 'Kyubi brat' in the old Uzumaki District. Taking a moment to watch his clones run off Naruto quickly made it to the old building, drawing the two kunai he had kept hidden in the sleeves of his robe.

Stopping on the outside of the building he activated the listening seal and heard four men inside. After listening for a little while and finding that the meeting was not an ambush he destroyed the Listening Seal with a flare of his spirit energy. Confidently entering the building he stuck to the shadows, observing the four men as they foolishly stood in the middle of the room. The three guards were armed with daggers and seemed to hold a certain swagger while the lieutenant seemed appeared unarmed.

"_Okay Naruto you trained for this. These are not good men. They are criminals. You can do this." _Naruto assured himself before drawing his arm back and letting one of his kunai fly.

The blade flew into the chest of the lieutenant. The man went down gurgling as he pawed at his wound. The strike had been sloppy, the man would die, but Naruto's inexperience had cost him a clean kill. For a moment Naruto froze, the shock of his first kill and such an unclean one, putting him in a daze.

"**Snap out of it!" **Kushina yelled from the seal as she watched through Naruto's eyes as the three guards approached him, drawing their daggers.

Shaking his head Naruto ducked down as a dagger occupied the place where his head had been, his training kicking in as he lashed out at his attacker's knee with his remaining kunai. The man went down but before he could finish him he was kicked in the side and sent flying.

Coughing Naruto stood up, his young body feeling the damage from the adult's kick. Running his hand over the afflicted area the young redhead cursed mentally, a rib maybe two had been broken. His body was too immature to enter a contest of strength with adults.

Taking a risk Naruto channeled his chakra into his legs and broke into a charge. He could feel the muscles tear as his inexperience and lack of knowledge caused the chakra to negatively affect his body. Naruto knew that once this was over he would dedicate time into this technique, body enhancement was useful but it could be quite painful when used improperly.

Surprising one of the uninjured guards with his speed he thrust his blade straight into the soft tissue of his belly before dragging it across. His previous horror shoved aside as his survival instinct took over.

The body collapsed on him trying to drag him to the ground but Naruto resisted and tried to shove it off only to be grabbed by the last uninjured guard. Picked up by the back of his shirt the boy was tossed to the ground and stomped on, his last kunai stuck in the now deceased body, facing his way.

Screaming in pain Naruto tried to roll away only for a voice from behind him to catch his attention. "Where do you think you are going you little shit!"

Naruto felt as he was grabbed from behind and lifted into the air. Once in the air he found himself facing the guard whose knee he had damaged. The man had limped his way over to him and now held him menacingly off the ground. The man drew back his dagger and shoved it into Naruto's stomach before throwing him to the ground, on top of the man he had gutted.

Frantically Naruto wrenched the kunai from the fallen man's stomach and held it close to his body. When the injured man reached to grab him once more Naruto unveiled the kunai and shoved it into his throat and tore. The man went down.

Seeing his partner dead the last man began to stalk towards Naruto with murder in his eyes. Seeing this Naruto quickly went through hand signs before activating the explosive seal. The blast tore through the building, burning his leg and his arms as he covered his face from the blast. The last guard was not so lucky, he had been near where the seal had been planted and found his lower half shredded.

Naruto despite his pain leaned back, he could feel the Shinigami's blessing working to heal him and he had won. His activated sensor was telling him that ANBU were on the way and so was the Hokage, if the large chakra was to be believed. But the victory had not been easy. Naruto had made mistakes; he had underestimated them, neglected to use his taijutsu, and caused damage to his body. He would heal but the fight should not have happened the way it did. He would also have to talk to his mother about the killing.

* * *

In the aftermath of Naruto's first kill the Hokage had been furious. His ANBU had been distracted by civilians and someone actually made an attempt on the jinchuriki's life. When Naruto had woken up he had asked the boy what he remembered and the boy said that he had been attacked on his way to the festival, the very festival he had told him never to go to. Sarutobi knew it wouldn't be safe for jinchuriki at the festival, especially when the boy didn't know of his burden.

That's not to say Sarutobi wasn't impressed with the boy. He was only seven and he had killed multiple men in an ambush and even used an explosive tag he'd made to attract the ANBU. While it wasn't as if he was Itachi or Kakashi when they were his age, they also had teachers. The boy would be a powerful shinobi of Konoha.

It was the news that one of the attackers had gotten away that sent him into a true fury. The boy had described a person to him one that he actually knew. Hanzai Mori, a rich civilian that had lost his family in the Kyubi attack. Hanzai has influence with several members of the village and ran a successful restaurant. His connections and money made it so that a trial was impossible; he knew the corruption that could be found in politics. Sarutobi had made use of such things before.

Since the man was well protected and the evidence lay in the head of seven year old child; a child whose mind he was not willing to risk sending a Yamanaka into for a clearer picture, he decided to act. Not that Sarutobi felt the need to send a Yamanaka into Naruto's head anyway. Naruto had likely not even met or heard of the man until today, his ANBU telling him that the boy preferred to eat the ramen prepared by the ramen girl, Ayame.

It was actually Sarutobi's hope that the relationship would turn romantic one day and tie the boy further to Konoha. That desire led to him occasionally eating at the little stand, a subtle sign that the stand, or specifically the girl was under his protection.

With a wistful smile Sarutobi turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Hanzai had overstepped himself. Sarutobi had promised Minato and later Kushina when his mistake led to her death that Naruto would be safe and a powerful member of Konoha's shinobi force, perhaps even Hokage. There was also the more militant side of him that said a jinchuriki was a weapon of mass destruction, controlled and used by the village, a civilian had no right to attack Konoha's military strength.

Hanzai may have been protected but that was only through the more legal methods of punishment. The man was only a civilian, a restaurant owner, his influence or money will not protect him from the enraged Hokage.

"_Naruto identified him at the scene. One of the deceased at the scene has been seen in the man's company in the past. And a quick interrogation of the people who caused the distraction had Hanzai's employees identified as the ones who supplied the money." _Sarutobi thought to himself, going over the evidence. Not that it mattered; Hanzai would use his connections to come off clean.

"Neko." The Hokage spoke.

From the shadows of the Hokage's office an ANBU appeared, a cat mask on her face. The purple headed ANBU put a fist to her heart and kneeled.

"Bring me Danzo." The Hokage ordered.

The ANBU nodded before disappearing in a quick shunshun.

Sarutobi took up a neutral expression once the ANBU left. After the Uchiha Incident the two had begun to butt heads, Danzo blaming him for Itachi's mistake and the resulting battle. Then there was Naruto, Danzo wished to turn him into an emotionless weapon, Sarutobi wanted Naruto to love Konoha feeling he owed it to his parents. He believed once Naruto grew attached to Konoha he would become Konoha's shield, unknowingly becoming the weapon the Hokage inside him wanted.

However despite their differences the two could agree on one thing, Konoha and by extension Fire Country came first. The Land of Fire needed its jinchuriki they could not let an attempt on his life go unanswered. Danzo would agree with his plan. It would seem that Hanzai was about to suffer from an accident. The death of a restaurant owner would not change Konoha.

* * *

After Hanzai's death the underworld in Konoha fractured as his lieutenants fought amongst each other for the right to succeed their boss. While the various groups fought amongst themselves a dark horse presented itself, swooping in on the confused factions and seizing control of much of Hanzai Mori's old empire. In the chaos Sagi Nise seized control.

Sagi Nise otherwise known as Naruto Uzumaki immediately began to develop information networks and buy property, running both a legitimate and illegitimate business. He established new rules, the criminals could not touch children and made it known that rape was punishable by death. Naruto had established his information network.

There were of course holdouts but most of the underworld came to a heel as Sagi Nise became a name that others whispered and some came to suspect he had a hand in the fall of Hanzai Mori. The fact that the only way to find Sagi was for him to find you painted a seemingly mythical picture. No one realized that the Konoha underworld was now run by a seven year old child with the help of his deceased mother.

As for Naruto's mental state, his mother had managed to calm the boy. The kills had not been the best first kills and while yes they weren't good men, Naruto had started the fight. Kushina had comforted him, holding him and letting him cry. Kushina would remind her son that they were not good men and that he knew that when he made the plan. She would remind him of what he had gained and that this information network could help him find his family and protect them.

Even with the comfort of his mother he would only finally get out of his funk when Ayame came to visit him with a bag of groceries. She wanted to make him a get well dinner and didn't take no for an answer even when he argued that he was perfectly healed. It was as Ayame hummed in his kitchen while making his meal that Naruto truly remembered why he did what he did. It was necessary. If he wanted justice for Konoha's crimes against his family and to keep his loved ones safe, sometimes blood must be spilled.

"_I will start by making sure no harm comes to you Ayame-chan." _Naruto had thought as smiled behind the young girl. He would not allow harm to fall on one of the few friends he had left.

* * *

Time passed and Naruto's training intensified. His mother had been furious at the way he had conducted himself in the fight that resulted in his first kills. She drilled him constantly in his taijutsu and rammed the knowledge of running chakra through his muscles into his skull. When he said that the civilians were stronger than him she had responded that his taijutsu wasn't about strength, it was about skill, hitting the points that caused the most pain, disabling the enemy, and using his opponent's strengths against them.

Taijutsu wasn't the only thing that he was trained in. Kushina acknowledged that in her hurry to provide chakra knowledge, control, and mastery, as well as the study of seals, she had neglected his training with the standard weaponry of the shinobi. Soon he was practicing with kunai and shuriken.

While he trained in the standard arts he took notice of other weapons. Specifically the young redhead took notice of caltrops and senbon and began to study their use. He would also begin to look into poisons, seeing their effects as a quick way to end battles. Naruto had experienced fear and helplessness; he never wanted to be out of control of a battle again. No, Naruto planned to be the one controlling the battle.

Naruto's past studies remained strong too. His sensor was now almost always active but he was still trying to keep it on subconsciously. The range of his sensor remained small but he had begun to try to increase it. Perhaps the most important thing was that he had begun to learn how to identify the emotions in the sensor by more than whether they were negative or positive. It was slow going but Naruto planned to have it ready by the time the academy was over.

As for his studies, they were still going strong but seemed more focused in politics. With the academy coming up and the abundance of clan heirs in his age range, the teachings would like come in handy. Meanwhile his seal training was progressing and he had begun to experiment with the Listening Seal, he thought it could be better. He had also finally progressed in his studies of the Animation Seal enough to practice its usage. For now the young Uzumaki practices by animating a small wooden doll the size of his hand, learning to move it around. Currently he was keeping the seal a secret from all but his mother.

Now he was on his way to the academy to register. The new year for academy would begin soon and he was finally eligible. It was as he walked that he came across a group of bullies picking on a little girl.

"Freak."

"Pale eyes."

"Not superior to us now are you." The bullies spoke as their leader grabbed the girl's hair.

"Please leave me alone." The girl cried out.

Naruto pauses as he looks at the scene, the girl is from Konoha but even then Naruto didn't like what was happening. Naruto didn't like it when people were picked on. So walking up to the bullies he spoke. "Leave the girl alone."

"Stay out of this. We are teaching her a lesson. Or do you want some too." The lead bully sneered.

Naruto sighed before glancing at the girl. "You know she's a Hyuga, you really should leave her alone." Naruto answers his political knowledge kicking in. The Hyuga clan had become one of the more powerful clans after the fall of the Uchiha clan.

"We know. We're just sick of their weird eyes looking down on us. We're going to teach her a lesson. Now beat it." The bully says with a sneer.

"No I can't allow this. Back off now." Naruto says as he shifts his body into his taijutsu stance.

"Playing hero. Get him" The bully says as tugs on the girl's hair once more, content with letting his minions handle the upstart.

The first bully to reach him is taller than him and comes in with a wide punch. Naruto slipping around the punch grabs hold of the taller boy's ear and pulls down. The boy's head follows the motion leaving his face open to an elbow to his nose.

Once the blow connects the boy is knocked out, the blow breaking his nose and sending blood pouring out. As this boy hits the ground the other one approaches, a boy of similar height, Naruto watches as the boy attempts to kick him. Seeing the kick coming Naruto steps to the side and then takes a step in before grabbing the outstretched leg and pushing it into the air. With the boy off balance Naruto swings his fist right under the rib cage, knocking the air out of the other child.

Tossing the boy to the ground Naruto lashes out with a kick, consciously resisting his training as he adjusted his kick away from the downs boy's throat and to his head. Naruto did want to kill the kid.

"Bastard." The kid spoke as Naruto approached. Likely the bully had learned the words from his parents.

Once Naruto reached the kid he reached out and grabbed the wrist of the hand still holding the girl's hair and squeezed down on the pressure point, using the pain to force the boy to let go. "Take your friends and leave." Here Naruto adjusts his grip and angles the boy's hand up and back, bringing the boy to a knee. "Now." Naruto whispers before tossing the hand away.

The boy seems to hesitate debating trying his luck before charging Naruto. Seeing the charge Naruto adjusted his position before grabbing the boy's wrist once more and having his other hand grab the boy's elbow and using the bully's own force to help throw him over his shoulder. Keeping the boy's arm in hand bends it behind the boy's back and kneels on it. Using his hand he grabbed the fallen boy's hair, pulling the boy's face back before slamming it into the ground, knocking the kid out.

Getting up Naruto approached the girl and offered her his hand. "Are you alright?" He asked with a smile.

"Ano. Thank you for helping me." The girl responded with a blush across her cheeks.

"No problem. I can't stand bullies. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you." Naruto answers with a confused smile, unsure of why the girl's face is so red.

"Hinata Hyuga." Hinata answered as she took his hand, her face more red than white by this point.

"Are you alright? You're kind of red." Naruto asks worried for the girl he had helped. _"Is she ill?"_

Before Hinata can answer another Hyuga appears and calls her over.

"Ano, bye Uzumaki-kun." Hinata spoke shyly but quickly while twiddling her fingers before rushing off to her bodyguard.

Watching her run off Naruto mumbled to himself. "Uzumaki-kun?"

_"Girls are so weird."_

From inside the seal Kushina sighed. **"Sochi-kun we are going to have to talk." **Her son is an idiot when it comes to women.

**Okay a lot happened in this chapter which makes since as it is a makeshift time skip. Truthfully I feel that I could have done Naruto's first fight better and Hinata's meeting better but I think it came out okay.**

**So we have a little bit of nurture versus nature in Kushina's talk with her son. Naruto still being pretty innocent at this time, while we also see his loss of innocence later when he kills four people. Question, did he do the right thing? That's for you to decide.**

**We also meet two possible love interests, Ayame and Hinata. In particular I liked the Ayame meeting and even if she becomes a sister figure she will still have her part to play. **

**I also tried to show his training in the time skip without using too many pages, things like the Animation Seal will be expanded on throughout the story, but no it is not just wireless puppetry. As for the fights they will get better but for now Naruto is young so he's not strong, to other kids he is but to an adult he's just a kid.**

**Pairing information is still undecided but I will tell you three possible people, just know they are not the only candidates and there is a chance Naruto will have multiple partners, that depends on the story.**

**Ayame, Hinata, and Kushina. Kushina is actually possible through certain story paths that I will not reveal at this time.**

**By the way can anyone tell me why Ino is written as such a pathetic kunoichi in fanfiction. I was checking up on her for the story and apparently she had the highest grades in the academy beating Sasuke in every subject but taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu. **

**Finally the Nix maintains a commanding leading in the poll, which will be ending soon. It will likely be ending sometime during the academy or at the graduation so remember to vote. Also I would greatly appreciate it if someone would me PM with where I can find a nice jutsu list for my Naruto story.**

**To my readers thank you for reading. You guys really make this enjoyable.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**


	8. Chapter 8: First Day

**Important Author's Note at the end.**

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

Chapter 8: First Day

The sun is peaking out over the horizon, shining its life giving rays over the village of Konoha. These rays of light shone brightly seeking a target before finding a young redhead sleeping peacefully in his bed. Spilling through the window the light hit the redhead's face and a mighty struggle began as the boy tossed and turned before burying his head under the covers. Sadly the day was not to be won. For the sun's rays had a compatriot. Inside of the boy an older redhead took note of the heat.

"**Wake up Sochi-kun"** A voice spoke softly from inside of the boy, breaking the eight year old boy's feeble hold on sweet unconsciousness.

With a tired sigh Naruto rose from his bed before stretching his arms. He had once more lost the struggle for sleep.

"_I'm up." _The boy thought to his mother.

Sliding off of his bed Naruto walked over to the bathroom and turned on the sink before splashing water into his eyes. Now awake Naruto finished his business in the bathroom before grabbing a training robe and heading into the mediation room.

Looking towards where the Shinigami's shrine was hidden Naruto gave a quick bow before slipping into the katas of his taijutsu with an ease that came from years of practice.

As he moved from one motion to another he could feel the turmoil in his mind calming. Today would be Naruto's first day at Konoha Academy and unlike most children his age, he was not excited. No, Naruto was worried.

Konoha Academy would force the young heir of the Uzumaki clan into the open and expose him to other clan heirs and shinobi. It would also be the start of his path to adulthood. His mind was filled with plans, alliances, and secrets.

How he behaves at the academy would determine how people would respond. The village would not allow a dark jinchuriki and definitely not a disloyal one. He had to be careful, as a clan heir and jinchuriki people will be watching him.

As his body slipped into shadow sparring with a fictitious opponent the boy mentally shook his head. He would not allow his worries to pile up; calm that would be how he got through the day.

His body glides as he forces his imaginary partner to overextend their reach before the he snaps a low kick into his nonexistent partner's knee. With his opponent staggered and by his side Naruto slammed his elbow into the back of his opponent's head. A kill shot when used with enough force.

Straightening up the boy wiped some sweat from his brow before turning to the Shinigami's altar and bowing. "Shinigami-sama please give me the strength to get through this day." The boy quickly prayed before heading to the bathroom. He would need to bathe before the academy.

**"You'll be fine Naruto-kun." **Kushina reassured her son.

After bathing Naruto put on the standard robes of his clan and ate a quick breakfast before he headed towards the academy. Opening his door Naruto activated his sensor and quickly taking note of his ANBU guards for the day as well as the feelings of the surrounding populace. Despite the lack of the warm feelings he felt directed at him he sensed little danger. Straightening himself the Uzumaki heir walked confidently out of his house before turning and activating the security seals his mother had put in while she was still alive.

_"I can't wait till I can use my sensor unconsciously." _Naruto thought as he walked towards the academy. While Naruto could now easily activate his sensor technique and maintain it, the technique still required his attention. He had however begun to learn emotions, more specifically the negative ones such as anger and hate. His range had even increased, now he could extend his sensor in a one hundred yard radius. It wasn't the miles that a master could cover but it was still impressive for his age. Even then after spending so long practicing the technique Naruto would not settle for impressive he wanted to be a master.

Walking down the streets of Konoha is an interesting experience for the young heir. There were the people who sought to use him and his name. The businessmen who wanted access to his clan's assets, the people both civilian and shinobi who wished to control his clan's seat on the council, and even the ninja who wished to gain the secrets of his family's techniques. Alternatively he could see the people that hated him, seeing him as a reminder of the Kyubi's attack. While others just didn't like jinchuriki or feared them.

It was for this reason that Naruto liked the Uchiha Clan and the Ichiraku family; he received warm feelings from them. Even if Naruto wasn't exactly getting along with Sasuke he still enjoyed his time visiting the Uchiha clan, from Mikoto to Setsuna's nearly three year old child, the Ichirakus had always been kind to him.

"_Especially Ayame."_ Naruto thought with a blush before trying to hide it. He had no desire for his mom to tease him on his 'crush' on the ramen girl.

From inside of the seal Naruto could hear a laugh, his mother had felt/seen, Naruto wasn't sure which but Kushina had noticed his blush. The young redhead was just thankful she didn't mention it.

It didn't take long for Naruto to reach the academy and see the people gathered outside. Families there to drop off their children, to watch in pride as their child took their first step on the path of the shinobi. It was even more crowded as the amount of clan heirs had made this day a spectacle; everyone watching, checking them, judging them, seeing who would be the next legend to grace Konoha.

"_Alright you can do this. Be calm, confident, and have a trace of a smile. Win their trust. Don't look weak but don't be arrogant. I can do this." _Naruto thought to himself as he walked into the crowd.

It was all about appearances. The robes he wore, he knew they would not be his ninja gear for outside of the village they stuck out too much. The robes did draw attention and they showed a well kept and confident individual, while also showing clan pride. The trace of a smile shows friendliness but not full blown naivety, no it was a measured expression, one of maturity. Every action, every step was designed to present an image.

Soon Naruto would be considered an adult in the eyes of the law. In a few short years he would assume his seat on the council and he would be eligible for clan politics. The academy was just the declaration that it would soon be open season on the Uzumaki clan and its power. The power a council seat had was great and while the Hokage made the final decision, the council could affect many things. That's without taking into account his clan's techniques, more specifically the hiraishin his father used. If he wasn't careful and didn't portray a strong front then he would be prey to the vultures.

Luckily Naruto did not have to exchange greetings for long as the doors to the academy opened and the parents left. The first step into the academy was a tradition, it symbolized the first step into adulthood and it must be taken without one's parents. They could only watch from afar as their children walked through the doors.

The students entered the academy only to find a wall with a list of names on it. On closer inspection it revealed that it was a list of the new students and by their name you would see a room number. It was this revelation that caused the young students to crowd around the wall, excitedly looking for their name.

Watching as the other children mobbed the board Naruto waited. He had no desire to get mixed up in the chaos. Around him he could see other students had done the same. He could even see Sasuke in a corner as he waited for the crowd to thin.

Off to the side he saw a group of three, a blonde, a slightly round brunette, and a lazy looking boy with black hair. By appearance he could tell they were of the Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans. Behind them he could see someone in a trench coat nod before walking off, an action mirrored by the girl behind him, the Hyuga from his encounter with the bullies. It appeared that they had found their room numbers.

Turning once more to the list Naruto felt annoyed to see the mob still gathered around. _"Do they even realize it is in alphabetical order?" _Naruto wondered after glancing at the top of the list.

Finally after the crowd thinned Naruto walked forward and found his name. _"Room 119"_ Naruto observed before leaving. His room would be room nineteen on the first floor.

Once he entered the room Naruto took a seat at one of the desks in the middle row, making sure to keep his sensor active. It is through this sensor that he felt Sasuke before he saw him. The young Uchiha may have been filled with dark emotions but they weren't directed towards him.

"Naruto-san." Sasuke greeted as he sat down next to the redhead.

"Sasuke-san." Naruto greeted back.

Their friendship was still rocky since their argument from when they were younger and their differing opinions on what made a ninja great, but they were still civil with one another.

"Kaa-san told me to ask you to stop by for dinner today to celebrate our first day in the academy. Are you coming?" Sasuke said with a bored tone. Sasuke loved his family, it was what drove him to train, that and his revenge. He just didn't understand celebrating when he could be training to become stronger so that Itachi couldn't finish what he started.

Naruto smiled a genuine smile at the Uchiha. "Tell Mikoto-basan I will attend and that I thank her for the invitation."

Sasuke nodded before asking Naruto another question. "Do you want to spar during lunch?"

"Sorry Sasuke-san but I promised Ayame-chan that I would visit her during lunch and tell her about the academy." Naruto replied. He actually enjoyed sparring with Sasuke. Sparring against himself was fine but Sasuke thought and fought differently from him, something a clone couldn't do.

"Hnn" Naruto took the grunt to mean that Sasuke was disappointed and that the conversation was over.

Looking around the room Naruto noticed that it was finally full and that two shinobi were walking in. Both were dressed in the standard uniform of a Konoha chunin, blue pants, blue long sleeved shirt, Konoha flak jacket, and sandals. However one had a scar across his nose and his brown hair kept in a ponytail, while the other had silver hair and wore his Hitai-ate as a bandanna.

"Welcome to Konoha Academy. Today you have all taken your first steps to becoming a shinobi. You stand in the greatest shinobi academy in the Land of Fire. You have made it here through a variety of ways, money, sponsorship, clans. But after today that no longer matters; what you are outside of this school does not matter, you will prove yourself or you will be cut from the program." The brunette spoke.

The brunette was right; of all of the ninja training schools in the Land of Fire Konoha Academy is the most famous. It produces the elite shinobi and those most likely to become jonin. The shinobi that are taught here become the face of the Land of Fire's shinobi force.

"You will have two years to decide on your choice of being a shinobi; you may drop out with little trouble during the first year and only have to pay a fine during the second year. However know that dropping out after the second year will be accompanied with strict consequences. Now with that out of the way, I am Iruka Unimo and beside me is Mizuki-san, we will be your main senseis until you graduate." The scar faced ninja said as he finished giving the introduction all new students at Konoha Academy receive.

"Before we begin our lesson, let's introduce ourselves. We will start from the top row and from the right." Iruka spoke.

"Ami" A purpleheaded girl spoke as she stood up.

"Hibachi" A kid with brown hair and wearing a cap said after her.

After that the names began to bleed together as civilian family children introduced themselves before it reached a boy in a trench coat. "Aburame Shino, heir to the Aburame clan."

The boy introduced himself making sure to include his position as society dictated. It was not arrogant it was politics. While Konoha Academy said that things like clans and money did not matter the truth was that they did. The academy was used by higher ranked shinobi under the academy's command to keep tabs on the village. A child is likely to slip up and reveal a clan's allegiances, which clans are in alliance, what policies the clan supports. While those from rich families might tell who is doing business with whom. The final thing is what parents might say behind others back will be reflected by their children, if say a rich merchant didn't respect the Hokage in their house cursing him behind closed doors, a child might accidently say something. The academy was as much a place of learning as an examination of loyalties and future alliances.

"Akimichi Choji, heir to the Akimichi clan." Spoke the roundish boy that Naruto had noticed earlier.

"Nara Shikamaru, heir to the Nara clan." A lazy looking boy with black hair said.

"Yamanaka Ino, heir to the Yamanaka clan." A blonde girl with long hair introduced herself.

Again the names went before the girl Naruto helped out spoke up. "Hyuga Hinata, heir to the Hyuga clan." The blue haired girl spoke shyly, her introduction causing whispers to start as the Hyuga clan was currently the most powerful of the clans. Being the heiress to the clan was a big deal.

"_The heiress, I helped the heiress of the Hyuga clan."_ Naruto thought as he watched Hinata take her seat. The analytical part of his mind going through the possibilities that such a friendship could hold.

Since Hinata was the last of her row it was time for Naruto to introduce himself. "Uzumaki Naruto clan head of the Uzumaki clan and son of the Yondaime Hokage." Naruto introduced while ignoring the whispers that broke out, only paying attention to his sensor.

Naruto could feel the wariness in several children be replaced with awe and later confusion, probably curious on why their parents had told them to avoid him; their minds warring against the words of their parents and the fact that he was the son of the Yondaime, the son of the hero of Konoha. The fact he was a clan head only made him more interesting.

But awe wasn't the only feelings he could feel amongst the other children, some were just attentive, others were feeling jealous? Naruto was not sure, but some of the children felt something dark when he said his titles. Finally, Naruto could feel the teachers and he didn't like their feelings, they were dark, outright hatred in the silver haired one. Iruka wasn't as dark but the feelings were there. Naruto decided there to be careful around them and not fully trust their teachings. He would stay near Sasuke, they wouldn't dare give poor lessons near another clan heir.

Beside the now sitting form of the thinking Naruto, Sasuke stood. "Uchiha Sasuke, clan heir to the Uchiha clan."

Again whispers broke out. This time over the tragedy that took place three years ago. While the Uchiha heir didn't attract as much attention as he would have if he had been the only survivor, he still received more than he would have liked. A scowl appearing on his face as he took his seat as the poorly whispered reminders of that day filled his ears.

Once more the process of introducing themselves continued before a boy with tattooed fangs on his face stood and boisterously introduced himself. "Inuzuka Kiba."

Perhaps it was because of the loud boy that the next name was noticed and didn't mix into the background with the others. "Haruno Sakura." A girl with pink hair spoke.

Eventually the names came to an end and Iruka began to teach. "Chakra, the mixture of physical and spiritual energies, it is through chakra that shinobi perform their many techniques; whether it be the ferocity of ninjutsu, the confusion of genjutsu, the superhuman feats of taijutsu, or even the complexity of fuinjutsu. Today we will unlock this energy and for the next month we will be working on learning to access this energy. To those of shinobi backgrounds this may be a review so I suggest you learn to access it faster."

"For the first year of your training we will be teaching you the core subjects of math, science, history, and language. For your shinobi lessons chakra is your new best friend, we will work on accessing it and controlling it. The next stage will be hand signs. Then we will work on how to mold jutsu before starting you on the basic three. There will be other lessons teamwork, leadership, survival. After two years and your bodies have developed more these lessons will become more intense."

"Now come up and take a seat on the floor. Mizuki-san will you join them." Iruka instructed.

"Hai Iruka-san." Mizuki spoke as he sat down and took up a meditation position.

"Now students observe how Mizuki is sitting, this is a proper meditation pose. Take up the position and…" Iruka began to explain to the shinobi hopefuls.

Naruto immediately took the position and focused purely on his sensor working on identifying the feelings he received from his classmates and teachers. _"Today is going to be a long day."_ Naruto thought, a sentiment unknowingly echoed by the other clan children in attendance.

* * *

When lunch break came Naruto did not hesitate to leave Konoha Academy and head to Ichiraku Ramen, the young redhead moving at a brisk but still socially acceptable pace to the small ramen bar.

"**Excited to see your girlfriend?" **The voice of his mother teased from inside of the seal.

"_She's just a friend kaa-san." _Naruto denied.

From inside of the seal Kushina sighed. Her son still hadn't realized he had developed a crush on the recently thirteen year old girl when he first met her. If anything Kushina liked the girl, her kindness was good for her son. The girl may not have been a kunoichi or a samurai but the mother didn't care, she approved of the girl that could break her son out of his shell.

When the ramen stand was in sight Naruto slowed down and composed himself before reaching for the curtains. A composure that was quickly broken as an arm grabbed him from inside of the stand and pulled him inside, shoving him into a hug.

"Naruto-kun! How's the academy?" The now older Ayame questioned as she crushed the boy into her hug.

The now older Ayame had changed becoming taller and no longer needed her stool to manage inside of the ramen stand. She still wears her white robe and her brown hair now went to the small of her back. Belatedly Naruto realized that his friend had developed a pair of small lumps on her chest; features that Naruto had come to associate with the female gender.

Returning the hug Naruto was finally released from the civilian girl's hold. "It was kind of boring. We didn't do much today, mostly introduced ourselves and chakra." Naruto answered as Ayame moved behind the counter and grabbed her apron.

"Well that's disappointing I thought ninja learned to breathe fire and throw lightning from their hands." Ayame said as she grabbed her bandanna and tied it around her hair.

Inwardly Naruto sighed, he didn't know why, but he liked Ayame's long hair. He didn't like it when she wore her bandanna. "That's a common mistake; ninjas have to start somewhere before we can do that."

"Are you calling me common Naruto-kun!" Ayame spoke with a mock glare. She enjoyed teasing her young friend.

Entering a small panic at her glare and not paying attention to his sensor's ability to sense emotions the young boy responded quickly. "Never. Ayame-chan is the greatest chef in the entire Elemental Nations. You could never be common." The redhead said while waving his arms.

"Good." Ayame spoke all smiles once more.

"_What just happened? She went from angry to happy in a second. I still don't get girls." _Naruto thought while pointedly ignoring the laughter of his mother; a sound that he had grown used to when talking to his friend.

"Speaking of great chefs, how is culinary school going?" Naruto asked.

"It's going great. I'm learning new recipes, experimenting with different ingredients, it's really fun." Ayame beamed as she talked about her schooling. Since Ayame is a citizen of the Land of Fire she became eligible for trade schools at thirteen years old.

"I'm glad to hear it. It sounds like you're having fun." Naruto spoke as he watched the girl move into the kitchen area and begin making ramen. Naruto never ordered at the stand as Ayame would always make him her special ramen, with her choice of flavors. So far she had not failed in her efforts.

"Yep and when I graduate you will always have a table at my future restaurant. It's the least I can do." Ayame chirped from the kitchen as she stirred the contents of her pot.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Naruto said defensively.

"Naruto-kun don't think that I don't know what you did. I know that my family could never afford culinary school. The money had to come from somewhere." The girl spoke as she ladled the ramen into two separate bowls.

"Your dad told you didn't he?" Naruto spoke.

"If it makes you feel better he tried very hard to keep it a secret." Ayame said as she set the two bowls down, placing one in front of Naruto and the other in front of herself. This wasn't just Naruto's lunch break from school, it was hers as well.

"Well Ayame-chan the best chef needs the best school." Naruto answered.

"Oh you flatterer. Now eat." Ayame said as she used her chopsticks to grab a bite of the ramen and playfully shove it into Naruto's mouth.

Swallowing his food Naruto was quick to sing his praise. "It's delicious as always Ayame-chan."

As the two talked Teuchi watched them as he took orders from his customers. Naruto was a source of confusion for him. He never disliked the boy nor did he seek to use him for his status but he had been cautious about his interactions with his daughter. Then the boy had helped get his daughter into culinary school, something he would have had to wait years to do for her, if he ever could. Watching them interact he could see a pleasant future between the two. They got along famously and he could provide her with things he never could. Still the father in him was glad that Naruto was too young to recognize his crush or act on it, he wasn't ready to let her go, not for several more years, not if he had anything to say about it.

It was as Naruto laughed alongside Ayame that he froze. Behind him he could feel a large chakra signature coming his way, the source's feelings a steady grey neither cold nor warm. Stretching the sensor out he felt his ANBU guard still hovering around, a task that they would continue at least until he graduated the academy.

"Hokage-sama it's always a pleasure to have you at my stand. May I take your order?" Teuchi said, his voice identifying the source of the large chakra.

"Greetings Ichiraku-san. Just an order of beef ramen and some tea please." The Sandaime Hokage said as he sat next to Naruto.

"Hokage-sama." Naruto and Ayame greeted the leader of the village.

"Ahh Naruto-kun it's a surprise to see you. How is your first day at the academy going?" Sarutobi asked.

"It is going well Hokage-sama." Naruto answered.

"Good. I am glad to hear that. And Naruto-kun I have told you before, you may call me Sarutobi-sama or Hiruzen-sama. Your parents were dear friends of mine; a title just seems too impersonal." Sarutobi said in a friendly tone.

"_You ordered my kaa-san's death."_ Naruto thought angrily. Perhaps if his mother's soul wasn't in his mindscape he would have considered the Hokage a friend, as it was he hated the man.

"**Calm down Naruto-kun. The Hokage will notice. He probably noticed your hesitation now." **Kushina advised from in the seal.

Collecting himself Naruto relaxed his body before addressing the Hokage. "I apologize I recently developed a sensor ability and had never felt such a powerful chakra before." Naruto said allowing some shakiness into his voice, giving the idea that the Hokage's chakra had overwhelmed him.

His age and inexperience causing the Hokage to believe his lie as he had seen sensors become shell-shocked in the past when they first encountered a kage's chakra. The idea that an eight year old child would be overwhelmed the first time he sensed his chakra was a perfectly reasonable belief. "It is quite alright my boy. I remember my old teammate Koharu-dono was nearly catatonic when she first sensed Tobirama-sensei's chakra." Sarutobi said with a good natured laugh.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Naruto responded. Truthfully he didn't like giving away that he was a sensor but it was better than telling the Hokage that he could hear voices in his head. If Konoha thought he was talking to the Kyubi there would be severe consequences and it wasn't like his mother was a better option since Konoha had killed her. No giving away that he was a sensor was much better than revealing the voice in his head.

During this lull in the conversation Teuchi Ichiraku set some tea down for the Hokage before backing into the kitchen. Hiruzen reached out and grabbed the tea before taking a sip, confident that a civilian would never attempt to poison a Hokage. With a sigh of content the Hokage addressed Ayame and Naruto. "So how are your dreams coming? Ayame-chan still desiring to be the greatest chef? And Naruto-kun I don't believe I have ever heard your dreams for becoming a shinobi."

"Hai Hokage-sama. One day I will be the best chef in the Elemental Nations and have my own restaurant. I'm even attending culinary school thanks to Naruto-kun here." Ayame while reaching an arm across the table and drawing Naruto into a hug, her naturally affectionate nature thanking the young redhead once more for his support of her dream.

"That's great Ayame-chan, I wish you luck in your endeavors." Sarutobi said before turning himself in his chair so that he could look into Naruto's eyes. "What about you Naruto? Why don't you share your dreams? Why do you want to be a shinobi?" The man asked observing the jinchuriki calculatedly.

"I wanted to become a shinobi to surpass my parents. Kaa-san was one of the most powerful kunoichi in the Elemental Nations and tou-san was the Yondaime, I want to surpass them both. To protect what I have left." Naruto said with conviction as he glanced at Ayame.

The answer was the truth. Naruto did want to surpass his mother and his father in being a shinobi. Even if it wasn't through martial power he would still be the greatest shinobi through his cunning. The protection bit was also true, he wanted to find the rest of his family, he wanted them safe, but he also wanted his friends to be safe. So while he didn't express loyalty to Konoha, he didn't lie.

As for the Hokage he examined the answer. The desire to be a great shinobi was common, nothing special. But his desire to protect what he had left and his glance to Ayame was telling. It meant he had at least one anchor in Konoha. There was no malice in his answer, no dark desire shown, no clenching of the fist. It was almost a standard response of a future Konoha shinobi only they would typically say surpasses the Hokage, but Naruto's parents were a Hokage and a Hokage candidate.

What the Hokage didn't know is that this is one of the questions Kushina asked Naruto in his lessons in politics. She wanted Naruto to learn how to answer questions without giving anything away. This just happened to have been one of the questions she used as an example and one whose answers could have consequences when answered wrongly. Only the glance in Ayame's direction had been unpracticed.

"If you plan to surpass your parents does this mean I am talking to the future Godaime Hokage of Konoha?" Sarutobi said with a seemingly good natured laugh.

"Honestly I have little interest in the position I just want to be a shinobi that my parents could be proud of and rebuild my clan. Kaa-san would have liked that." Naruto said truthfully putting a solemn note on the end.

Once more the Hokage nodded. To Sarutobi's knowledge Naruto's parents were both loyal Konoha shinobi so to make them proud he would be loyal to Konoha. As for the clan, it made sense. If that had been one of Kushina's last wishes then the boy would definitely try his best to honor it.

Satisfied with the answers he received the Hokage turned from the two children and addressed Teuchi who was coming out with the bowl of ramen. "Ichiraku-san I apologize but could you make that ramen to go. I have a meeting I need to get ready for."

After Teuchi had put the Hokage's ramen into a takeout container, Sarutobi accepted the ramen and began to walk off. The Hokage was content, his questioning of Naruto had shown a boy who was loyal to the village. It had also shown why Naruto appeared so formal all the time, an attitude that had worried him. The boy was just trying to make his clan great again. Besides he could now confirm through his own observations of the young jinchuriki's interactions with Ayame that Naruto could be quite open with people.

* * *

The rest of the day at the academy was simply an introduction. The students met their various teachers, learned of the classes they will take. Survival, health, math, history, science, teamwork, leadership, strategy, blending in, ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, theory, geography, live action exercises, etc. All of these courses would be covered throughout their stay in the academy. All in all it was a standard first day at school just the ninja version.

For Naruto the day had been spent observing the emotions of his teachers and fellow academy students through his sensor. Taking careful note of who felt what towards him. The academy would be his first real test in the world of politics.

Still when the day was over he found himself following Sasuke back to the Uchiha compound. He would eat dinner with his extended family and relax. Enjoy his last moments of peace before he is thrown into the piteous world of clan politics.

When he got home he would have work to do. First he would establish his underworld cover identity, Sagi Nise, as an employee of the Uzumaki clan's businesses. Of course the records of this would be lost in bureaucracy but there would be a record if he ever needed a fall guy. That way if anyone ever found a way to follow the money he could come forward and have someone to blame. He would be clean in the eyes of the law. Let the world think they were hunting an actual person while he stayed safe and laughed at their efforts.

From there he needed to create one more identity, one to purchase legitimate business holdings. Once this was done he would expand. There was more to power than strength. There was political, information, and monetary, and Naruto planned to wield them effectively to find his family and keep them safe from all who would hurt them. Whether they be from the Lands of Earth, Lightning, or Water. Even the Land of Fire would not harm his loved ones.

On a lighter note he would also be spending his weekend under his mother's guidance finishing the security seals around the Uzumaki Mask Temple before he began work on the garden. With any luck he would be able to move into the temple within a year or two.

**Alright first real Author's Note, first I would like to address some worries over the pairing and the idea of multiple partners. If I go this path Naruto will be marrying these women because of politics before growing to love each other. They will not being getting together just so Naruto can have a harem of beautiful women. On that note all women that could potentially be with Naruto serve a purpose (that will be revealed as the story continues so no spoilers). **

**Second I wanted to touch on Hiruzen Sarutobi. He is in fact a complicated character when it comes to Naruto. On one side you have the Hokage, the strong military leader who wants a powerful jinchuriki that is loyal to the village. On the other you have Sarutobi who feels he owes it to Minato and Kushina (who he does not know was a traitor and feels guilty about) to keep their son safe and happy. It's actually both of these sides that cause him to eat at Ichiraku Ramen because while his plan to let Ayame develop into an anchor is cliché it is important for the village (Ayame is not an agent of the Hokage).**

**The Hokage is also a mortal man that feels fear. In ch.1 I mention how he fought against Kumo's jinchurikis (in my Naruto world jinchurikis are this world's WMDs). Now you have the Uzumaki clan, a clan of seal users not part of Konoha, the same seals that create or control jinchurikis, and a connection to the Shinigami (why the Shinigami is thought of as a dark god will be explained soon). He responded to his fear and plotted the Uzumaki's destruction.**

**Now I'm not justifying this version of Sarutobi but I want to point out that he is not purely dark. I like to think that having a character like him as an antagonist for Naruto would be interesting.**

**Also Hinata's inclusion at the end of the chapter was for more than possible pairing choices. It was to illustrate that despite his actions and dislike for Konoha he is still kind. He helped her even after he quite cold-bloodedly orchestrated the deaths of multiple people and started a small gang war when he seized control of Konoha's underbelly. I hoped to use it to keep my Naruto grey. I still admit it could have been done better. That scene will also help him in future clan politics as the Hyuga is currently a very powerful clan.**

**Finally the Nix won the poll. They will be the official summons of this world's Naruto.**

**Quick edit to note: I call the jinchuriki WMDs as a comparison since they can be used as biju bombs and can take a biju's form. Please remember this Naruto will not be OP or godlike. **

**Author's Note concluded.**

**Alright and I am back. I apologize that this took about two weeks but the next chapters will be faster. I had to help my sister move and well this chapter wasn't originally planned. I also had to plan out the academy years, what they'd learn, what relationships would be formed, all that jazz. **

**Speaking of which how much do you want to hear about the academy? I currently have a couple of chapters set, including a time skip and graduation. But if I receive enough interest I could show you some interesting academy chapters. If not I could incorporate flashbacks in later chapters. I also hope my academy will be at least partially unique.**

**Also Sasuke is a different character in this. He has his family and Itachi never tsukuyomied his mind. He still is obsessed with revenge but he's mostly obsessed with protecting his remaining family. Finally since he is not the last survivor of his clan he's not as majestic Last Uchiha of Konoha, still a prodigy, but the girls won't be fawning over him as much.**

**Finally pairings. Unless I officially confirm anything this is in the air. As it is I will admit Ayame is close but she is also the only girl besides Kushina that he really knows and Kushina would be a later development if it becomes romantic. **

**So I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of this story. We have broken the one hundred review milestone so I will take that as you have. Remember share your thoughts on the story. I love to hear them.**

**And a shout out to Inoobe for guessing one of the Kushina routes.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Academy

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**So this wasn't the quick update I was planning and for that I apologize. Sadly life got in the way of this update what with having to help my sister move, job interviews, new work schedules, etc. So in return for your patience I give you my second longest update yet.**

Chapter 9: The Academy

Naruto entered the classroom and took his seat next Sasuke Uchiha, the same seat he had used for the last three years. Around him he watched as his classmates filtered in and faced the front of the room. It was a smaller class; several had dropped out of the program while a couple just disappeared. Still there were a few dozen students in the room.

As for the Academy lessons themselves, the first two years were inane to Naruto and the other clan children. The purpose of them was to catch orphans and civilian children up in terms of education and chakra knowledge. The chakra lessons had remained focused on unlocking their chakra, simple chakra control exercises, mediation, and hand signs. The rest of the lessons were basic general knowledge.

But after the first two years passed, the Academy switched into high gear. Classes on survival, cooking, poison, detection, strategy, taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu became common. There were even classes on basic code breaking and a what if class, where the instructor provided a scenario and they discussed how they would accomplish the mission with their current skills or even just survive. Finally, there had even been a first aid class where they learned how to treat wounds without chakra.

As for Naruto's personal training he had greatly increased his skills in fuinjutsu and continued to make advances in his chakra control. He had even created a seal by accident when he was experimenting with the listening seal, creating what he simply called a map seal. It was simply a map but his mind had latched onto it and he had combined it and the listening seal to create something glorious, a Scry seal.

The Scry seal allowed him to view any location that he attached it to, allowing him a 3D real-time image of the location. With the addition of a listening seal interwoven into its creation he had created the perfect spying seal. He had even managed to incorporate a relay system into the seal, allowing him to activate the seal from a master seal. Best of all, the seal was designed purely as an Uzumaki seal, requiring an Uzumaki's spiritual energy to activate. Making it seem like an incomprehensible scribble to non-Uzumaki seal masters.

The relay seal was actually an old Uzumaki invention that allowed them to activate seals from afar inside of key locations. Sadly, these seals were not the answer to using combat seals without being in the vicinity and using hand signs, but they did allow the use of basic seals to be used from a distance. The relay seal had only been trickled down in its simplest forms to people outside of the clan. In fact this seal is a point of contention between seal crafters as they often argue over the benefits of the relay seal and chakra tripped seals, a seal often used by security that acts as a trip wire and uses an enemy's chakra to activate. The argument being over the control provided by the relay seal and the ability for chakra tripped seals to activate high level seals at the cost of control and friendly fire. Naruto himself sided with the relay seal as he did not like the lack of control provided by the alternative.

The other seal that he made progress on is the Animation seal. He had started to animate larger objects than the old wooden doll he used to practice with. Though when it came to forcing his connection with the Animation seal to end he still used small objects, trying to acclimate himself to the backlash.

As for his other endeavors they were also advancing. He had finally managed to move to the outskirts of Konoha and into the rebuilt and renovated Uzumaki Mask Storage Temple. The building now having a deceptively beautiful garden filled with poisonous plants, particularly of the flower variety. The building itself had been expanded adding a clan living space, made up of bathing areas, living quarters, a library, and a dojo, being built onto the back and on the sides of the building, yet still maintaining a temple like feel in its design. The front of the building had been replaced with a clan business area, where he would meet with guests, both of the social and business variety. Finally the temple like compound had been surrounded by a six foot wall with a large metal gate, all of which were reinforced with seals. In fact the entire structure had been reinforced with security seals, creating a fortress posing as a peaceful and inviting clan compound. It was Naruto's hope that it would one day be full Uzuamkis.

As for politics he had begun to increase his alliances. He had a relationship with the Hyuga clan through their heiress Hinata. But until he took his seat on the council he had little else from the Hyuga clan. Though he did receive some food for thought from the Caged Bird Seal of the Hyuga clan, something Hinata had told him about after the Academy one day.

As for his other alliances he had managed to achieve one with the Aburame clan. Making a business deal with them using the businesses he acquired through various means, both legal and illegal. He would help sell the Aburame clan's silks through his businesses throughout Fire Country and outside of it, in exchange for giving them a percentage of the profit.

Finally, he had managed to ease some of the ill will that he received from the Akimichi clan and by extension the Yamanaka and Nara clans. This was actually not through his own efforts but because of Ino Yamanaka. She grew curious about him, hounded him, and befriended him. Naturally she brought along her two childhood friends for the ride. While the heirs of these three clans getting along with Naruto may not have brought him alliance an alliance with the three clans it did soften the Akimichi clan's bad feelings for the Uzumaki and allow him at least a neutral stance with the clan, while he also gained a decent relationship with the Yamanaka and Nara clans.

The last thing that happened was the increase in his business connections. He had used his connections with the underworld to affect the markets and because he was the guiding hand he was ready to swoop in and seize businesses, greatly increasing his wealth. He had even stretched his connections into other countries, making liberal use of the privilege to conduct business outside of Fire Country that the Uzumaki clan was given years ago, a privilege that had never been rescinded. Now that he had stretched out his eyes and ears he had begun to listen for any living Uzumakis.

The last thing that Naruto had done through his connections is hear about the civil war in Water Country. With the news of the civil war Naruto sought to take advantage of the country's fractured state. Sadly for him, his attempt to setup in Wave Country failed and he had to look elsewhere for a staging area into Water Country. He would later find a new staging area in the Land of Noodles. However because of the delay caused by his failed attempt to position his less than legitimate connections in the Land of Waves, he had only recently begun to entrench himself in the Land of Water. Currently he was selling supplies to every side in the island nation's civil war. But he wasn't just selling food and weapons. Naruto's people were also selling information and acting as a middleman for various mercenary groups. He had even made use of the mercenaries to inflame the war, having them attack supply lines, destroy small villages, and even wipe out military outposts in the name of opposing factions. All the while he was slowly buying up bars, brothels, and other properties, while at the same time as putting people on either side of the war in his pocket through bribery, blackmail, and favors.

He had even been able to make contact with a mercenary group known as Akatsuki. A man known as Kakuzu had approached one of his black market locations and told them to tell Sage Nise, Naruto's cover identity in the criminal world, how to contact them. They only asked to remain in the shadows a deal that Naruto had accepted. He had never met any of them and frankly Naruto didn't care who they were, they did great work for a reasonable price. As such Naruto found himself often hiring the Akatsuki. Having them do anything from sabotaging a bridge and flooding a trade route, to the occasional sinking of a ship or the very rare assassination. While these missions were typically below shinobi of their caliber, he paid well and often, and they were kept safe and discreet. Naruto liked to believe that his contact for hiring Akatsuki for missions, Kakuzu, appreciated the safe and easy money that his organization provided.

That was not to say that he only used shinobi or the occasional samurai, there were in fact effective killers that didn't need chakra. This very lack of chakra, a perceived weakness, allowed them to be overlooked and not treated as a threat, allowing them to poison or kill vastly stronger people. A civilian bumping into a shinobi on the street could be ignored and thought little of, not realizing that they grazed the shinobi with a poisonous blade, or that the civilian had planted a knife into the chest of the shinobi and slipped back into the crowd.

As Naruto finished his recollection of the past few years his teachers walked into the room. The teachers, Mizuki and Iruka still wore their chunin outfits and looked the same as they did when the Academy first started. Though Naruto thought Iruka might have grown a few gray hairs from dealing with the class, he could not tell if Mizuki had.

"Alright class, today we will once more go over the military structure of the Land of Fire, a structure that was emulated by most of the Elemental Nations and is the structure you are mostly likely to encounter. Sakura-san, please start us off." Iruka said as he began the lesson.

"The Land of Fire's military structure is made up of three parts, ashigaru, samurai, and ninja." Sakura answered brightly. It was a textbook answer but still a good answer.

"Correct. Also monks though rarely seen on the battlefield have been known to accompany the main army, boosting morale and providing last rites for the deceased. Some monks also read the signs of the Gods and can tell us if the Gods favor us in the coming battle. Now, Kiba-san tell us about one of the parts of the Land of Fire's military." Iruka said when he caught Kiba not paying attention to the lecture and instead playing with a small white puppy, his nin-dog Akamaru.

"Well there's the shinobi. We are the badas…" Kiba caught himself upon seeing Iruka's glare. Iruka had few rules in his classroom but not cursing in his presence was one of them. "We are the powerful guys who destroy enemy resistance, the elite forces of the Fire Daimyo." Kiba finished with a nervous expression.

"Would anyone care to elaborate on Kiba-san's articulate answer?" Iruka said with a sigh before turning towards Ino. "Ino-san if you would please."

"Hai Iruka-sensei. Well as Kiba-san said shinobi are the elite forces of the daimyo, but we also come in multiple ranks. Genin, chunin, jonin, and kage. There are multiple shinobi training areas in each country; however each has a main village that trains the elite forces amongst shinobi and contain the central leadership of the shinobi forces." Ino takes a breath before continuing.

"During times of war shinobi are used as strike teams to establish beach heads or invasion points into a country. They are also sent on search and destroy missions, act as scouts, and fight alongside the main army." Ino said the last part with distaste before hesitating, seeming to debate something with herself and continuing. "Shinobi are also assassins, spies, and saboteurs."

"Very good Ino-san, your answer was nearly perfect. Sadly you mixed up the modern shinobi with Clan Wars Era shinobi. As you know the shinobi world changed when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded Konoha and swore loyalty to the reigning daimyo and his family. This gave shinobi a home and in the times of peace our numbers grew. This also allowed people to see the pinnacle of the shinobi world, the kages. During the First World War the daimyos would realize how devastating a powerful shinobi could be on the battlefield. This realization would make us the elite forces of the daimyo and give birth to the modern shinobi way of life." Iruka spoke passionately.

After Iruka had finished his lecture Naruto scrunched his face in disgust. The modern shinobi disgusted the preteen boy. The modern shinobi weren't even ninjas; they were warriors, meeting each other in open combat. In fact Naruto blamed Madara and Hashirama for the modern shinobi. They were not shinobi and while he could respect their power, he couldn't respect them as shinobi. The two juggernauts actually wore samurai armor into battle; no self-respecting shinobi would do that. Their power actually drove the last nail into the coffin of the Clan Wars Era shinobi. Why would you use a shinobi to sabotage a fortress's water supply when a shinobi could just burn it to the ground?

Sadly people forgot that not everyone could become a kage, in fact most didn't make it to jonin. The bulk of shinobi, about eighty percent of them would only become chunin. Another ten percent would only reach genin, and the rest had the potential to become jonin. As for kages, they came from the jonins, and about 1 out of every 500 have the potential to become a kage. That is assuming that those with the potential live long enough to reach it.

Suddenly Iruka tossed a piece of chalk and hit a student in the head. The student with black pineapple shaped hair startled as Iruka addressed him. "Shikamaru-san so glad you could join us. Please tell the class about the samurai faction."

"Troublesome." The boy muttered under his breath before answering the teacher. "The samurai are trained soldiers of the daimyo that use their chakra to enhance themselves, the creation and use of seals, or certain sword techniques. They also don't get along with shinobi."

"Is there anything special about them?" Iruka asked.

"Hai. There is the Nemesis class samurai. They wear armor that restricts them from using chakra but also disperses chakra when it reaches them, making them immune to genjutsu and ninjutsu. Certain taijutsus like Tsunade-dono's have also proven ineffective. Luckily this troublesome type of samurai is rare." Shikamaru answered with a put upon sigh.

"Very good Shikamaru. It should also be noted that the common samurai while not skilled in ninjutsu or the casting of genjutsu is faster and stronger than the average chunin. It is not recommended to fight a samurai in close combat. Finally, Naruto-san, tell us about the ashigaru." Iruka commented.

"Hai Iruka-sensei. The ashigaru, sometimes derogatorily called jutsu fodder, are peasants and conscripts that make up the military of the Elemental Nations. It is also sometimes used as a punishment for criminals in the Land of Fire. These are people not trained in the use of chakra and wear armor onto the battlefield. Commonly used for mass formations or occupational forces. In combat they are also used as archers forcing the opponent to waste chakra and energy in an attempt to avoid a rain of arrows." Naruto spoke formally.

"Good. Now a quick history and geography lesson before we move outside for shinobi training." Iruka spoke.

"But Iruka-sensei why do we need to study history? We already studied it, when are we going to use history on the battlefield?" Kiba spoke in growl filled voice. _"I'm training to be shinobi, an alpha, to take over the spot of clan heir from my sister, not to be a scholar."_

"There are several reasons to learn these lessons. First it teaches us to learn from the past so that we do not repeat their mistakes. One such lesson is the Uzumaki clan. Before the official start of the Second World War the Uzumaki clan was a powerful clan but they lived by themselves, no village or other clans, only Uzumakis. Their enemies from the First World War saw vulnerability and attacked them, destroying the Uzumakis and their home. Yes they killed many of the invading force but the clan itself nearly went extinct. The fallout from this would start the Second World War. The point to take from this is that no clan can stand alone in this world, no matter how powerful. It takes a village." Iruka said while pointedly looking at Naruto.

Naruto not liking that his clan was used as an example especially one in such poor form decided to speak. It wouldn't do for others to think his clan foolish or weak that would not bring allies. "Hai, Iruka-sensei, my clan has learned from its past mistake taught to them by the combined forces of the Lands of Water and Lightning. In fact in the nurturing home of Konoha we have provided two Hokage candidates, one of which became our Yondaime."

The statement may have been a bit bragging and Naruto's father may not have been a true Uzumaki but he was taught by his mother in seals. The man had also been married into the clan before he became the Yondaime. In the eyes of the law the Uzumaki Clan had provided a Hokage to the village.

"Hai Naruto-san your clan did learn from past mistakes, but please refrain from interrupting the lecture, even if you feel the need to defend your clan. Iruka-san continue with the lesson." Mizuki spoke with a glare, practically choking on the politeness he had to give towards the Kyubi brat. _"I can't even give the brat detention because he backed up Iruka-san's lecture."_

"Another reason to learn these things is to avoid a military disaster like when we fought the Land of Wind at the Battle of Red Winds during the Second World War. Can you tell me why the forces lead by the commanding jonin, Fumeiyo Senju were defeated it what is considered one of the largest disgraces of the Land of Fire?" Iruka challenged Kiba.

"That's easy. Fumeiyo Senju wasn't strong enough. He didn't have enough shinobi under his command. Like when my clan hunts, we use a pack of dogs to get our prey." Kiba said.

"No, that is incorrect. In fact Fumeiyo Senju greatly outnumbered his enemy using a force made out of ninjas, samurai, and ashigaru. Some say his numbers lead to overconfidence. Would anyone else care to answer?" Iruka asked.

"Supplies, Femeiyo Senju lacked enough water for his forces. So he was forced to direct his forces to the nearest known water source by taking the most direct route." Choji answered before taking a bite from his chips.

"Correct, because he hadn't thought about the desert temperatures his forces were dehydrated and this caused him to march his forces toward the nearest water source, where else did he mess up?" Iruka continued before turning to Hinata. "Hinata-san can you answer?"

"His sc-scouts were poorly used." Hinata spoke in a soft voice, stuttering slightly on the word scouts in her nervousness.

"Good. Because Fumeiyo Senju believed the opportunistic forces of Wind Country to be practically defeated and the invasion to be a formality, he never considered the idea that his enemies would attack his massively numerically superior force. As such his scouts were quick only doing a quick glance over the area, only looking for the remnants of the Land of Wind's military. What problems did this lead to, Shino-san?" Iruka questioned.

"Lack of water, large numbers, and lack of knowledge lead to a slow moving army that was discovered by enemy scouts. Allowing a small force to logically calculate and setup an ambush for Fumeiyo-san's army." Shino answered in the straight logical tone that all Aburame seemed to possess.

"Very good. Hai, Fumeiyo-san's forces were greatly slowed by their size and thirst. His lack of knowledge would also prove to be his undoing. What did this lead to Shikimaru-san?" Iruka said as he caught the Nara attempting to nod off in his chair.

"An ambush. His forces encountered quicksand and were quickly caught and massacred at the Battle of Red Winds." Shikamaru answered lazily.

"Correct Shikamaru-san but next time a little more details. Naruto-san, please fill in the blanks." Iruka spoke.

Naruto perked up before answering. He actually enjoyed reading about the Battle of Red Winds and not because he could live vicariously through the Wind forces but because he respected the Land of Wind's tactics. "When Fumeiyo-san's dehydrated forces reached the quicksand an ambush was launched. Puppets, undetected under the very sands rose and attacked the surprised chakra users of the army, killing many in the initial seconds of the ambush. As the puppets attacked, volleys of arrows were fired on the Land of Fire's forces by a group of ashigaru archers on the other side of the quicksand. These archers were protected by at least one shinobi squad specializing in defensive or supplementary techniques. When Fire Country's chakra using forces began their counterattack on the puppets in earnest, using squads to surround them, they suffered a severe surprise when the puppets were used as bombs to release large clouds of poisonous gas. This in turn leads to why it is called the Battle of Red Winds, as the famous wind release shinobi of Suna used their techniques to quickly spread the poison through the army. After that a few more volleys of arrows were fired before Wind's samurai moved in and cut down the survivors." Naruto finished.

"Good, very detailed Naruto-san. As you can see class this battle is perhaps one of our greatest disgraces and teaches us many lessons. We learn geography so that we know whether to expect extreme heat, know the availability of water and food, or even how to recognize treacherous terrain such as quicksand. We learn the importance of scouts and the dangers of overconfidence." Iruka spoke imparting the value of the lesson to his class.

Naruto noticed that it was left unsaid that no one outside of maybe the royalty of the Land of Wind or their nomads knew the full layout of their country and its desert, a defense that had caused the vastly inferior forces, at least numerically, of the Land of Wind to resist invasion every time. Also left unsaid was that the Fumeiyo Senju and a dozen or so of his compatriots were spared during the massacre to spread the message of their defeat and disgrace. Fumeiyo would actually commit seppuku one week after the battle. Finally three months after the battle a peace treaty would be signed between the nations of Fire and Wind.

"The final reason for studying these things is the incident in Noodle Country about twenty years ago when we were attempting to get their support. An Inuzuka plucked two pieces of fruit from a tree, giving one to himself and one to his nin-dog. Normally this would be fine but this tree was part of a festival that the area had. Once a year before harvest a priestess would pluck a fruit from the tree and eat it, promising great harvests for the current year and the next. A show of worship for the rabbit goddess that they believed guided the Sage of Six Paths into adulthood. Naturally the people reacted violently and the Inuzuka and the other teams were violently expelled, resulting in the deaths of multiple shinobi and the royal diplomat. We responded in turn and launched an attack on the town. This miniature war would end after a week but its consequences would be dire. Since that day, the Land of Noodles has been a staunch ally of the Land of Water and barely tolerates doing trade with our homeland. This is why we learn history. In fact it is recommended that you take a day to research the location of your mission before you go on it." Iruka said with a pointed look.

Iruka's mother had been a part of that incident, on the inciting Inuzuka's team in fact. She survived but Iruka held a bit of a grudge, similar but not exactly like the one he had for Naruto though, his mom had actually died in the Kyubi attack. Maybe in another life he might have sympathized with the young preteen, a life where Naruto acted out and played pranks or even sought his friendship and help, but in this life Naruto was formal, had money, was playing the political game, and was skilled in the ninja arts, there was nothing for Iruka to sympathize with. Only his integrity as a teacher and perhaps if he admitted it to himself, the presence of multiple clan heirs stopped from sabotaging his teachings to the young redhead.

As the class took in the impromptu lecture on the importance of what many had considered pointless subjects for a shinobi in training Iruka seized on their wonder. "Now class let us move on to our history lesson for the day. Today we will be talking about Land of Waterfalls and the reasons for their hostile relationship with the Land of Earth and how this helped forge their alliance with the Land of Fire."

* * *

"Alright class we are done for the day. Line up. We are going outside for taijutsu practice." Iruka said.

Quickly the class lined up and marched out of the classroom and into the training areas of the Academy. Off to the sides they could see other classes as they participated in their exercises. Whether they were war games, taijutsu, ninjutsu, weapon practice, even the brutal game called client: Sacrifice or Save could be seen being played.

Client: Sacrifice or Save is a game where a class is split into two teams and put on opposite sides of the training field with a training dummy in the middle, then each team would send one person each. One side would be the attacker armed with a training kunai and a training shuriken while the defender would be armed with one training kunai. The attacker starts by throwing the kunai with as much power as possible typically to kill the client (the training dummy) while the defender, who is placed near the training dummy, races to block the shot. The attacker then launches their shuriken in an arc to finesse the shuriken into the client. If the client takes a lethal shot the defender is eliminated, the same happens if the defender takes a lethal shot while attempting to save the client. If the defender is hit in the arm or leg, then they may not use that limb for the rest of the game, whether they are attacking or defending. At the same time, if a defender catches a weapon of the attacker, they may use it as an extra weapon when they are attacking. No matter what the attacker must have at least two weapons, one kunai and one shuriken, and the defender must have one kunai. The game ends when an entire team has been eliminated.

Naruto turned his attention from a competitive game of Client: Sacrifice or Save once he noticed that his class had reached an open training ground. "Alright class, stretch out while Mizuki-san and I discuss the layout of today's spars." Iruka said as he walked over to Mizuki.

Naruto observed them as he stretched making sure his body was limber. Naruto's fighting style required that he use his opponent's strength against them, strike pressure points, dodge, and take advantage of kill strikes. This style was one that required quite a bit of flexibility and perhaps wasn't the most manly since it didn't focus on the ability to take a hit, but he didn't care. Besides he was trained by his mother, a very powerful woman, so what if his style wasn't considered macho. Naruto believed that it was better to be alive then the alternative.

Once the class was sufficiently stretched Iruka and Mizuki stepped forward. "Today we will be sparring. You will test your taijutsu abilities against each other and we will mark you for a grade. Mizuki-san will be the proctor for the match and will interfere if you do not stop when he calls the match. After you have sparred, assuming you have not been knocked out, come to me and Mizuki-san and I will tell you what you can improve on. However if you are knocked out we will have an after class session where you will be expected to ask us on how you can improve. Mizuki-san please call out the first pair." Iruka said in his teacher voice.

"Ino Yamanaka and Ami." Mizuki stated

From the crowd Naruto observed as a girl with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail appeared. She is the average height of an eleven year old but has begun to develop early, causing the appearance of a slight roundness to her chest area and the beginning of a curvature to her hips. She wears a purple outfit consisting of a purple blouse like shirt that revealed her midriff and a skirt that stopped a little above her knees with slits that nearly went up to her waist. Finally she had bandages around her legs and stomach and wears two elbow warmers.

Her opponent is a girl with short purple hair wearing a blue dress with a striped shirt over it. A quick observation of the girl's body would reveal that she had yet to reach the onset of puberty.

Naruto shuddered at the mention of puberty. For chakra users that have an active and trained chakra network, this natural body process hit them a little earlier. Bringing interest in the appearance of others in a more personal manner and brought changes to the body. Nothing ridiculous like an adult body by age thirteen but the changes were faster and began earlier. Something his mother and he had not truly prepared for and had brought an awkward moment when he noticed the changes and she saw through his eyes.

"**Yeah that was embarrassing." **Kushina said with a half hearted laugh from inside of the seal. It had been embarrassing to explain the concept of morning wood to her son, especially when he was undressed.

"_I thought we agreed not to talk about it." _Naruto fired back. For all of his maturity he like every other kid did not like to talk about such things. The fact that he couldn't hide such things from his kaa-san only made it stranger to him.

"**Hai hai. But really you should pay attention to the fight, that Ino girl has almost… scratch that she has defeated her opponent." **Kushina said from the seal. Truthfully the woman had fallen on humor to avoid the awkwardness of experiencing her son's puberty right alongside him. Bathing had actually been a point of contention in the first couple of days, as Naruto would jump in the bath or shower and not thoroughly clean himself or even avoid it all together. Luckily the phase was short and she got him accustomed to the idea.

"_What! What happened?"_ Naruto asked.

"**We are going to have to practice communicating with each other in public more often if you are going to zone out." **Kushina reprimanded lightly.

Naruto took a quick glance at the sparring circle to see that Mizuki and Iruka had finished talking to Ino and Ami, while idly noting his sensor picking up the newly arrived presence of one of Konoha Academy's medical ninja.

"Kiba Inuzuka and Sasuke Uchiha." Mizuki called.

"Come on Akamaru. Let's kick Sasuke-san's as… butt." Kiba said while quickly correcting himself once he noticed Iruka's evil eye. The man was really big on respect amongst comrades.

"Leave Akamaru. This will be a pure taijutsu spar, no ninja tools, including ninken." Iruka said.

As Kiba signaled for Akamaru to stay before he entered the sparring circle Naruto shook his head. Kiba's fighting style relied on a partner or a group. It relied on distracting his opponent and leaving them open to his teammate's attacks. The taijutsu of the Inuzuka clan was inadequate without the addition of a partner and Kiba had too much clan pride to use the standard Konoha style, commonly referred to as the Academy style.

Naruto truly didn't understand why people looked down on the Academy style. Yes it was well known and perhaps a little simple, but it was effective. It was a balanced style created to fight all types of chakra and non-chakra users. Granted it wasn't the Juken but it was like the clans actually believed it a poor style. It was actually a very good style with no real weaknesses though it lacked definitive strengths. The style could also be refined to incorporate other styles rather easily. All together it was a very effective style. After all thousands of shinobi came from outside of the clans and it wouldn't do to have such a large portion of a nation's fighting force to be ineffective in close combat.

Still since Kiba wouldn't even consider the use of the Academy style despite the handicap the spar had given him, Naruto had little interest in it. The spar would be won by Sasuke. With this knowledge Naruto turned back to his conversation with his kaa-san.

"_Well at least I have control over my facial expressions down. But how did Ino-san's fight go?" _Naruto asked. He while being a tentative friend, ally, with the girl was understandably wary of her. Ino belonged to the Yamanaka clan, a clan renowned for its mind techniques. Unfortunately for Naruto the clan kept their secrets closely guarded, rumors even spoke of how their secrets might only be passed down by word of mouth or even a specter hidden in the minds of their children, which meant Naruto had no idea how the clan's techniques worked or even the handseals to activate them.

"**True and you will need that if you truly wish to be on the level of the nobility in the world of politics but that is no reason to be lax."** Kushina stated in a playful teaching voice. The woman never could keep a strict tone up with her son unless it dealt with matters of the utmost importance, like life and death.

"_I wasn't defending myself; you know you taught me to always improve myself. Now Ino's match?" _Naruto thought back.

Kushina sighed mentally to herself. Yes she knew that she was being a slight hypocrite with her son's youth and his strive for perfection. In her youth she had been a bit of a wild child while her son was a formal… she wasn't sure if she could call him a do-gooder, but he was well behaved. Still he was in danger and she didn't want him to make her mistakes nor did she want him to be ignorant of the dangers around him, perhaps she could call it motherly instinct.

"**I know, but remember not to be too hard on yourself you're still young and already pretty advanced. Now Ino-san, her fighting style was interesting and similar to yours. It focused on dodging and it seemed she fought herself to avoid creating a distance, still I noticed that she too hit pressure points. However she avoided kill strikes at least by her hands, there were slight twitches to where she would keep alternative methods of death, such as poisons or kunai. Without seeing her weapons pouch I couldn't say for sure. Either way it has changed from the usual Yamanaka style of leaving the close quarters combat to their Akimichi allies."** Kushina analyzed.

"_Interesting. Kaa-san should I be suspicious of her?" _Naruto commented idly as he turned his attention to the current spar, watching as Sasuke punched Kiba in the face before taking advantage of the young Inuzuka's daze to lash out with a kick and knock him out of the ring.

"**I am unsure but I would advise caution. Ino-san's answer to what a ninja is, her fighting style, her responses when your teachers give your class a 'what if' situation, and her lack of surprise whenever you have a pop quiz; they all suggest that she is not a normal kunoichi."** Kushina said.

"_Should I be worried?"_ Naruto questioned.

"**No. If Ino-san or someone else from her clan broke into your mind I doubt they would get anything. Either the Kyubi or I would get them. Besides I think she's just curious about you. Trust me it's a girl thing."** Kushina said seriously from inside of the seal before teasing her son.

"Shino Aburame and Hibachi." Mizuki called from the sparring ring. Iruka and he having already critiqued the taijutsu display of Sasuke and Kiba.

"_Thank you kaa-san, I will back off for now." _Naruto replied before he turned his attention to the newest spar. Shino, the tallest kid in his class wore sunglasses, a green jacket, and shinobi pants, and seemed to be growing the beginnings of an afro. While his opponent only real feature was a bandanna over his brown hair and the cocky grin over his face. Personally Naruto didn't like Hibachi and was rooting for Shino to win the match.

"**I didn't say to stop being friends with her! Just be careful."** Kushina screamed from the seal. Her son needed more friends, Ayame was a great start and helped him to loosen up, but he was still too uptight at times.

"_Hai kaa-san" _Naruto thought back to his mother, not quite sure what he had done wrong. He hadn't even thought about ending his tentative relationship with Ino, the girl not only brought three clans to the table but a small part of him found her to be rather fun; a notion that had appeared despite his best efforts. Don't get him wrong, he will still unite his clan and get justice for the wrongs that had been committed against his family, but he was still human.

Mentally shaking his head Naruto turned his attention once more to the sparring circle and watched the fight between Shino and Hibachi.

Shino was doing well but there were moments where his blows stopped short of the target Naruto notes. It is as if the young clan heir would be placing something on someone instead of punching them.

"_Most likely his insects." _Naruto thought as he recalled the information he knew on the Aburame clan. While the capabilities of the insects beyond draining chakra were secret, Naruto at least knew that the Aburame had a hive placed inside of them when they were young.

Eventually the match ended in the Aburame's favor though with some slight difficulty, as Shino's trained instincts to use his kikaichu beetles in the battle worked against him. Hibachi had gotten cocky and made fun of the Aburame heir for the punches that would be just out range of his body, instead of pressuring Shino and winning the match.

"Hinata Hyuga and Sakura Haruno." Mizuki called.

From beside Naruto the shy Hyuga heiress began to walk forward. Her head tilted downwards as she attempted to hide her eyes behind her short blue hair. She wears a cream colored jacket and dark blue pants. Also like Ino she had begun to show the signs of puberty, if a little more pronounced then said blonde, a fact that she tried to hide behind her clothes, and a subject of teasing between Hinata and Ino when they hung out.

"Good luck Hinata-san" Naruto while turning towards her.

"Arigatou Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she lifted her head with a slight blush on her more confident face.

Mentally Naruto sighed. Hinata was a naturally shy girl that had several insecurities, some stemming from her family and others her own preconceptions about herself. In his ambition to get an ally from the Hyuga Clan and his subsequent befriending of the young heiress he had found himself trying to raise her confidence, and while she didn't stutter anymore around him or small groups of friends, she still didn't do well around strangers or any group larger than a small intimate gathering. This wasn't help by the insecurities she had when it came to the shinobi lifestyle.

_"Bright side, being her pillar of confidence has driven her closer to me."_ A callous part of Naruto's mind thought as he watched Hinata enter the sparring ring and face off against a girl with long pink hair wearing a red qipao dress with spandex shorts underneath.

"Did you wish Hinata-chan good luck?" A voice spoke from behind Naruto in an attempt to surprise him.

"Hai Ino-san." Naruto said evenly, having noticed the blonde's approach through his sensor before she even spoke.

"Good. Not that she will need it; forehead isn't that skilled in taijutsu." Ino spoke as she took up a spot next to Naruto.

"Shall I take this as Haruno-san and you are still fighting?" Naruto said while turning his head slightly to look Ino in the eye while also keeping the sparring match in his line of sight.

"How's your garden? Do you like your azalea bushes?" Ino asked, pointedly ignoring the question.

_"I guess that means they are." _Naruto thought to himself, taking note of Ino's redirect in the conversation.

"The garden is great and the azaleas are lovely. Thank you for the kind gift." Naruto responded happily.

"Well no garden is complete without some form of flowering bush and you didn't seem like a rose person." Ino responded with a smile.

"Hai, I have to agree they really do bring out the place." Naruto spoke easily. Naruto's and Ino's shared interest in gardening allowing Naruto to be more at ease and not as measured with his words.

"You know, now that I have added to your garden, you should totally let me see it." Ino said cheekily.

"It's not exactly a secret Ino-san, but if you desire I shall show it to you. Oh, it appears that Haruno-san has lost the use of one of her arms." Naruto said smoothly before he brought up the recent development in Hinata's sparring match.

"Hai Iruka-sensei will call the match soon." Ino observed.

In fact the match ended not ten seconds later when Hinata used the Sakura's weak side to deliver two juken strikes to the girl's hip followed by a chakraless strike to her chest.

"Gomen." Hinata said quickly before giving a slight bow to Sakura when the match was called. Through Hinata's interactions with Naruto and later Ino, Hinata had gotten better at sparring. Now the girl was able to attack and while not willing, could inflict pain during the match. Still she did not like hurting anyone and always found it necessary to apologize after a spar, an attribute that Ino claimed was too adorable to change.

After that the instructors quickly advised the two girls on how they could improve their skills before Mizuki called the next match. "Choji Akimichi and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well I am going to congratulate Hinata-chan." Ino said before turning and walking over to Hinata.

As Naruto entered the ring he took note of his opponent. Choji wears a green haori over a light green shirt and wore a pair of black shorts. He also has a long white scarf around his neck and small earrings in his ears. Size wise the boy is at least half a head taller than Naruto and at least a couple dozen pounds heavier.

Before the match begins Naruto quickly began to think through his options. _"Taller, heavier, longer reach, don't get into a strength contest. Weaknesses are earrings and scarf. Can't use earrings too brutal, might be off putting to allies, plus Choji-san is a member of Konoha, action suspicious, plus earrings too small for an easy grab. Scarf is possible, could use to choke opponent, just beware of retaliation. He is slow. Use my superior speed, can't let him hit me. Drawn out fight would go badly, must knock out target early."_

After Naruto finished his assessment of his opponent like his mother had taught him he settles himself into his stance and waited for the match to start. Only sparing a moment to curse the disadvantages he had against his opponent in a pure taijutsu match. Without the use of chakra or weapons, he was a boy with several disadvantages fighting someone from a clan who had designed themselves to be a tank on the battlefield.

The moment Mizuki announced the start of the match Choji moved forward, charging the smaller boy, the typically kind natured boy confident in his ability to win and his ability to absorb the blows of his physically weaker opponent.

Naruto settled himself, waiting for the attack. It would be a punch as the Akimichi fighting style made little use of kicks, and he had to be ready for it.

Choji's punch came soaring at Naruto's chest, a blow that would easily knock the air out of the redheaded Uzumaki. Naruto seeing the punch coming, adjusted his body slightly sideways before lashing out with palm of his opposite hand, hitting the elbow of the arm and driving it away from his body, followed by using the elbow of the same arm Naruto had deflected the punch with to daze the Akimichi. With the Akimichi dazed and backing up, Naruto lashed out with a kick catching the Akimichi in the chest.

Choji bleeding from his nose and no longer off balance responded. The training from his clan and their focus on being able to absorb damage allowing him to grab the Uzumaki's leg as it retreated and drag him towards him.

Once Naruto reached the bleeding Akimichi, Choji lashed out with a punch striking Naruto in the chest. Naruto gasped, his body built for speed and dodging not designed to take the punishment of an Akimichi's fist. He had to escape Choji's hold if he wanted to win the match, for Naruto could not take many more of the physically stronger boy's blows.

As Choji dragged Naruto closer, once more using the redheaded boy's still captured leg, Naruto balled up his fist and ducked low, painfully stretching his body as his leg was lifted high into the air, before he lashed out with a punch to Choji's kidney. Choji now in pain, grimaced and a little spit shot from his mouth before Naruto twisted, making use of the very flexibility some in the academy had made fun of him for, calling him girly, before he boxed the Akimichi's ears, once more dazing the young shinobi in training.

Making use of the daze, Naruto kicked off the ground and wrapped both of his legs around Choji's arm, before twisting the boy's arm, forcing the Akimichi heir to let go of his leg. Once free Naruto began to fall to the ground only for Choji to instinctually respond to the pain and lash out with his other arm. Naruto barely having enough time to raise his arms to block the punch from his hitting his face hit the ground hard and rolled.

Quickly getting to his feet Naruto took in his opponent. Choji's nose was bleeding and one of his arms had been twisted out of its socket, if not broken, but still the tank like shinobi stood. A quick check of his sensor showed that Choji's emotions were now darker than normal, reflecting what Naruto believed to be anger and frustration, probably due to the multiple head blows and the state of his arm.

Meanwhile Naruto himself, despite only having suffered two hits could still feel pain in his chest and the jarring of his arms. If the second hit had reached his face; the fight would have been over. He might even have pulled something in his leg or groin area when he performed the stretch needed for the kidney shot. He shouldn't have kicked the more rounded boy in the chest during the first part of the spar.

Once more the Akimichi heir charged him but this time his punch was aimed at Naruto's face. Naruto seeing the punch coming adjusted his body. When the punch came Naruto grabbed the opposing arm with one hand and placed his other hand on the Akimichi's chest before using attacking academy student's power to toss Choji over his shoulder.

With Choji down Naruto quickly turned and grabbed the boy's scarf, grabbing each end of the scarf with his opposite hand and pulled, choking the Akimichi heir. With Choji down Naruto gave a significant look to Mizuki, telling him to call the match, a look that was ignored.

With the match continuing Naruto noticed Choji attempting to rise from the ground in an attempt to throw him off, so seeing little choice the Uzumaki stomped down on the back of Choji's knee, ceasing the Akimichi's efforts to raise. Squeezing further on the scarf Naruto continued to cut off Choji's air supply and waited for the match to end, but once more Mizuki refused to call the match.

"_Mizuki-sensei isn't going to call the match; I have to end it myself."_ Naruto thought to himself as he watched Choji reach for the scarf around his neck.

"Please concede the spar Choji-san." Choji froze for just a moment when he heard his strangler's words, the words slipping through his darkening vision.

"If you continue then I will have no choice but to kick you in the back of the head and I have no desire to do that to a friend." Naruto spoke.

For a second Choji didn't move before he extended his good arm and tapped the ground twice, conceding the match to Naruto. Naruto seeing the match had ended released the scarf.

"Good fight. You have a powerful punch." Naruto said as he offered his hand to Choji.

"Arigatou Naruto-san." Choji said as he smiled and accepted the redhead's hand.

Naruto sensing no ill will hidden in Choji's reply smiled back. There were no hard feelings about the spar. So pointedly ignoring the pulled muscle near his groin, he walked beside Choji as he limped over to their senseis with Naruto catching part of a small argument between the two.

"Why didn't you call the match?!" Iruka spoke in a furious whisper to his teaching assistant.

"Choji-san could have thrown Uzumaki-san off. The spar was unclear." Mizuki fired back, defending his position.

Iruka seemed to turn slightly red in anger, not appreciating Mizuki's willingness to put one of his student's in danger. He might have let it slide if it was the Uzumaki, the walking reminder of the Kyubi attack, even then, Iruka would not have too grievous of an injury take place during a spar. Iruka had his integrity, something he forcefully reminded himself of whenever he taught the Kyubi brat.

"We will talk about this later." Iruka quickly whispered to Mizuki before turning towards the two approaching academy students.

As Iruka and Mizuki began to critique Choji's and Naruto's spar, Naruto tuned them out. His sensor had long shown him that Mizuki harbored only dark feelings toward him, while Iruka's feelings, while not as dark were not amicable either. With this knowledge Naruto instead retreated into his mind, letting his kaa-san critique the match, telling him where he could improve and what he had done right.

* * *

After Naruto's spar the taijutsu class would continue for a little while longer. The spars would be mostly linear, with civilian born academy students using the Academy style against each other with varying degrees of proficiency. The only clan academy student to have a spar would be Shikamaru, who being from a clan that did not focus on taijutsu would also use the Academy style.

Shikamaru would show passable skill in taijutsu but would ultimately lose the spar against one of the non-clan academy students. It was a reasonable outcome since most civilian academy students had low chakra reserves since they weren't from a shinobi lineage and thus relied on taijutsu to raise their combat grades in the academy.

As for Shikamaru, while being passable he would still show a marked discomfort with having to use taijutsu in a fight. Naruto thought this reasonable for two reasons. One, their shadow jutsus apparently made them extremely difficult to fight at close range, while at the same time allowed them to quickly kill their opponent. Two, according to his mother Naras were typically used as strategists by the village or their shinobi squad and thus were rarely used on the frontlines.

It was after the spars were finished that Iruka spoke to the medic about helping him teach his class about field medicine and general medical knowledge. The medic agreed and soon the class was back inside the classroom.

"Alright class, Oyone-sensei has agreed to teach the class about the medicine. Give her your attention." Iruka ordered.

For the first time Naruto examined the medical kunoichi in front, having paid little attention to her during sparring practice only noting that he did not feel any dark emotions pointed in his general direction from her. Now as he looked at her he noted that she was a woman of average height with short black hair that framed her face. She wore the standard Konoha medical uniform, with the tan full body scrub with the white neck area over what is presumably her shinobi uniform, though she seemed to fill it out a little more in the chest area than the average kunoichi. Naruto could not see her hitai-ate but he did note that she wore a bandana the same color as her medical scrubs on top of her head.

"Greetings. Iryo-nin like myself, are shinobi that specialize in medical treatment. We do not often see combat, instead being assigned to heal the wounded and cure the sick. With the exception of Tsunade-dono we are not the heroes in ballads or in the books you might read, we do however save lives. In fact, Konoha's medical ninja corps can be credited as a large part of why we have won the past world wars." Oyone said in polite voice, her tone seeming to have a natural bedside manner designed to soothe her patients.

"Now before you interrupt, yes we are not Minato-sama, Sarutobi-sama, or even Jiraiya-san. However, did you know my teacher saved Minato-sama's life early in the Third World War. Or that Tsunade-dono helped cure Sarutobi-sama and Jiraiya-san of the damages they suffered during a poison gas attack. I myself served as a medic near the frontlines during our skirmishes with Lightning Country eight years ago. In fact, behind every great legend in the Land of Fire there has been a medic." Oyone spoke passionately, while pointedly giving only the minimum of respect to Jiraiya by using the san suffix, showing that she felt distaste for the man.

"I know that most of you won't consider a career as an iryo-nin, not this early in your lives. Most of you dream of being the next Hokage or the next one to defeat a biju like the Kyubi, so here's something to get your interest. Every great ninja has had medical knowledge, at least basic. If you want to enhance your strength or speed through chakra you must know how to do it or you will tear apart your muscles. Tsunade-dono focused her medical knowledge so much on chakra and its interactions with the human body that she created her strength technique. "

"Even ninjutsu practice can be advanced by basic medical knowledge. There is a lot of crossover between the two. An example would be how katon experts write about how to mold fire nature chakra inside of the body, how to avoid burns and damage. They also tell of how to acclimate your body for higher ranked katon jutsus whose hotter fires can kill the user if not used properly."

"For those interested in genjutsu it might interest them to study psychology or our limited knowledge of the brain and its makeup. This will allow for more believable and stronger genjutsu that are harder to break." Oyone finished, catching the ears of every student in the class. Most had not known that medical knowledge could be so useful in their career.

With her speech finished the class soon listened intently as Oyone guided them through medical techniques for on the battlefield. She taught them how to make splints from rags and sticks, how to bandage wounds, how to make a tourniquet, how to stop people from choking on their own blood or spit, even how to transport a wounded body. Then she had the class get into groups and practice on each other as she went around and corrected mistakes.

After the Health class was over and the class said goodbye to Oyone, Iruka once more addressed the class.

"Class today was a great day. Now since tomorrow is the Festival of the Sage we will not see each other or the day after so I advise you to have fun. When we return to class we will have overnight survival training with ninjutsu and basic chakra control lessons mixed in. Be prepared. Finally I wish you a happy holiday, dismissed." Iruka said with a bright smile.

As Naruto got up from his chair and walked out the door he was intercepted by Ino who was dragging Hinata behind her.

"We are going to the festival." Ino said with a certain amount of finality while Hinata stood blushing in the background.

"We will like it if you would come." Hinata spoke softly from behind Ino and without a stutter, though her face remained a bright red.

"I would be delighted, though I did promise to accompany someone already. Will you mind if we eat at Ayame-chan's stand and pick her up after her shift? Also will Choji-san and Shikamaru-san be accompanying us?" Naruto asked politely.

"That lazy ass said it was too troublesome and Choji is keeping him company. They're going to hang out at the Akimichi section of the festival. Ironically the Nara kiddie zoo is too loud for him to nap." Ino said with a huff before a small laugh escaped from her lips. You had to know the Nara clan to appreciate the humor in their contribution to the festival being one of the loudest and most popular since kids loved the deer the Naras would bring.

"I do not mind Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

"Ayame-chan's stand is near the Nara clan's zoo. We can go there afterwards; I know Hinata-san will like it. I hear that the Nara recently had some baby deer." Naruto said with a smile.

Naruto may have become friends with Hinata in a bid to forge an alliance with her clan and as part of his cover as a loyal Konoha citizen but that didn't mean he didn't truly befriend afterwards. The girl's genuine kindness was a rarity in his life and while her meekness at times annoyed him and other times made her malleable to his purposes; he did consider himself her friend. Plus Ayame would also love to see the baby deer.

"Then it's a date." Ino said with a teasing smile. She knew of Hinata's crush on the Uzumaki and couldn't resist the shy Hyuga's reaction to her suggestion.

As Hinata seemingly swooned at the idea of a date with her crush, Naruto responded while being slightly confused over Hinata's behavior. "It's a date. Ino-san since you wanted to see my garden, why don't you swing by tomorrow. Then we can go to the festival." Naruto suggested while looking in Ino's eyes. A lesson his mother had taught him about polite conversation.

Ino flustered over Naruto's response to her teasing, flushed slightly before replying. "We'll swing by around ten hundred hours. See you tomorrow."

Ino finished this with a wave before the slightly bossy girl dragged Hinata away. The red faced girl only managing a wave before she disappeared around a corner.

"_Why are girls so confusing?"_ Naruto pondered as he stared at the now empty classroom.

"**Sochi-kun, we need to have another talk about girls."** Kushina said from inside of the seal.

"_Kaa-san we already had that talk."_ Naruto said from embarrassment.

"**No, not that talk, a different talk." **Kushina continued.

Naruto sighed. _"I am still confused." _The actions of the two girls and the mysterious talk his mother wanted to have with him, causing a metaphorical question mark to dance over his head.

Inside of the seal Kushina hit her head against the weeping willow that represented her seal. Despite every nuance of conversation she had taught her son, giving her son the talk, and comforting her son over the awkwardness that is sharing puberty with his mother she had forgotten something major, she hadn't taught him about girls.

Kushina had been planning on it to be during a lesson on seduction and how to go about it but she had liked her innocent boy. Now it seemed that she had no choice, it was time to teach her son about girls. How to attract them, date them, make them fall in love with you, even pleasure them. It wouldn't due for her son to lack the appropriate knowledge.

Once again Kushina slammed her head against the tree. She wished that Minato was still alive; he could have taught their son these things. Sighing Kushina wished she had a drink. Idly she wondered if teaching her son how to seduce women was a betrayal to her own gender.

**Alright so this chapter showed a glimpse into Konoha Academy as well as mentioned several classes that take place. Yes cooking is there. It's because there are foods that will kill you in the wild if prepared incorrectly, so imagine it as an add-on to survival.**

**I also showed you the military structure of the nations. The addition of ashigaru and the more prominent inclusion of samurai is why the wars are not called Shinobi World Wars but instead just World Wars. Also in case I didn't mention it, any academy student that drops out after their second year will complete civilian school and be conscripted into the ashigaru for five years (that means thirteen). The academy drop-out consequences are actually based off of the United States Military Academy.**

**I particularly like the history class, as I try to show why they are relevant, with inspiration for that coming from RWBY.**

**Now some of you may think I am being unfair to Iruka's character but I feel justified in this version of him. Naruto isn't a prankster and has already begun to solidify himself as a political and business leader and had made multiple friends/allies. As such Iruka doesn't sympathize with him and doesn't see the lonely boy crying for attention. He stays bitter with Naruto.**

**Naruto's thoughts when viewing a fight or participating may seem off but remember he has mom in his head guiding him, teaching him, this changes him. It is also why his fighting style is considered girly by some, it's because he is taught by a girl. As such he will have a slim build, perhaps like a gymnast when he graduates.**

**Please tell me your thoughts on the Choji and Naruto fight. I hope you liked it. I actually picked Choji because someone with Naruto's fighting style would have trouble with someone of Choji's build, plus it is different than a Sasuke fight.**

**The limitations on the body will help to show the marked difference between genin and jonin, so don't expect any of my genin to fight Zabuza in straight combat or unleash multiple A or S rank jutsus (only a few exceptions to this like kage bushin).**

**Kushina was used as a bit of a comedic relief this chapter too with the whole puberty thing but it can't be serious all the time.**

**On that note balancing dark and light is hard but I strive to keep it grey. To that extent Naruto being a lonely kid (Kushina and Ayame are just two people) will reluctantly befriend people from Konoha causing moral dilemmas maybe even sacrifices, or even betrayals from both sides, but that makes a story interesting. **

**Naruto is also not fully dark in his actions with the Land of Water, he's disassociated with it, like a game, he will likely receive a wake-up call and moral crisis during the wave Arc. This Naruto while keeping his core goals will change as the story evolves sometimes teetering into darkness other times repelled by his own actions.**

**During the festival I will expand on why the Shinigami is viewed as a dark god by the general populace so that will hopefully answer some questions. Also the fruit tree is a reference to Kaguya before she went dark, that's a warping of legend and an example of fragmented history. **

**Another consideration is Naruto is now helping to fund Akatsuki through supplying them with missions. What could this mean for the story? No, Naruto doesn't know about jinchuriki hunting and the Akatsuki think he's civilian.**

"**For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,  
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,  
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,  
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,  
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,  
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail."**

**-Benjamin Franklin**

**This quote applies pretty well to the**** character development of multiple people, like Hinata. Because Naruto interacts with her she becomes more confident. Or because Naruto is a known clan head and his father is known people seek his favor. Etc.**

**Finally, Naruto will lose a bit of his obliviousness to girls in the coming chapters.**

**Now for a question to the readers. **

**OCs, I am trying to keep them few but there are some things that could be fun to do but require an OC. Like a merchant on the Civilian part of the council who tries to outsmart Naruto and prove his underhanded dealings. The merchant will have his own underhanded dealings, so it would be a who blinks first or who can outmaneuver the other relationship. Plus I need samurai. Oyone is actually not an OC.**

**I am trying to keep the OC count low, but what is your opinion of OCs and how they fit in this story? **

**Some OCs are throwaway characters like the one Kushina killed in chapter 5 others could become important characters like members of the civilian council or the leader of the samurai.**

**Once again please drop in a review with your thoughts. I also try to answer questions through the PM function though if multiple people ask the same question I might address it in the story like I did with Sarutobi. (Not sure if people liked my answer for him though)**

**So again, read and review.**


	10. Chapter 10: The Rival

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

This would have been out earlier but during the thunderstorms that hit my hometown two things happened. One, we lost power when a tree hit the power lines. Two, and the one that pissed me off, I lost my entire chapter for the festival, all of it. So I kind of rage procrastinated. So for now enjoy this short chapter and interlude.

Chapter 10: The rival

There are many forms of power in the world.

Martial power, where those who are strongest lead. Originally the samurai fell under this category but today they contend with the shinobi sect, showcasing their prowess in the fields of open battle.

Monetary power, where those who are the wealthiest control all. Merchants, guilds, and others compete heavily for this, sometimes squabbling to the point of conflict over meaningless pieces of paper or shiny baubles that the government has declared to have value.

Political power; where politicians and those of a more charismatic persuasion compete to control the mob. These people use the weight of their supporters to perpetuate and spread their beliefs.

Some even use divine right, the belief that the gods or even the Sage of Six Paths himself have declared that they and their family have been blessed with the right to rule.

There are many more, cults like the cult of Jashin that prey that use religion, the power of the scholar, even the power of writing and song.

All of these powers have rivals. For those of the martial belief they find rivals in other warriors while those who derive power from money find it in another merchant. Even the nations themselves have rival lands.

However there are more subtle avenues of power, the paths of information and perception. People from this path use information to spark wars, overthrow kingdoms, and ruin politicians. Information, facts, it effects all other paths to power.

Perception, opinions, viewpoints, all of this makes up the path of perception. They use rumors, tall tales, even bards. They generate a story and they get people to believe. With it they can make heroes and create villains. The path of perception is to control the beliefs of their fellow man.

And like all other paths to power, those who follow the paths of perception and information have their rivals, sometimes in each other.

* * *

She was a young girl when she first saw the power simple gossip could hold. Her mother had simply been speaking with her friends when the latest rumor had come up. Something about a woman rising to the top off of the virtue of her looks and the scandal she was having with her boss, a leader of one of Konoha's merchant guilds.

At the time she had thought little of it, not understanding what the big deal was or even what the supposed scandal was. But as time passed she watched as the rumor grew and became more sordid with each telling. Eventually both the woman and her boss were affected. The woman would be fired while her boss would be labeled as something called a sexual deviant and blacklisted by his own guild.

The most stunning aspect of this was that the rumor had been false. The rumor that the public had so readily taken to had been started by the person that took the man's former position as guild leader and despite being proven innocent people remembered the rumor, no legitimate business would hire him.

As for the woman, she was labeled a strumpet. 'Civilized' businesses did not want to be associated with those of her 'ilk' while others in the marketplace mentioned hiring her if she would perform certain duties for them afterhours.

It had been disgusting to the young girl but also fascinating. A simple rumor had brought down one of the power elites. On that day she unknowingly began to realize the power of simple words and perception.

* * *

As the girl got older she discovered her first bully. It was simple, an older kid picking on those younger than them, pulling on pigtails, pushing others down, rude jokes, etc.

The girl didn't like him but didn't know how to handle it. She was only seven while the boy was a thirteen year old boy that had dropped out in his first year at Konoha Academy. She couldn't overpower him, she didn't know any jutsu to scare him with, and she didn't want to be a tattle tale.

It was as she debated with herself that she remembered the rumor from when she was younger. The rumor had been powerful, a weapon that she could wield. The problem was wielding it. She wanted to get rid of her bully but she remembered the girl in the rumor had also been negatively affected by it. She didn't want to get in trouble.

Still her mind was set. The plan had been simple and using words that at the time she didn't completely understand.

When the boy once more visited the park and picked on the girls, she approached one that had had her hair pulled and filled her head with words she heard from the rumor. She told the other girl about how the boy was touching her inappropriately, that it was a weird touch as her mother had called it when she asked about the details of the past rumor.

Once she got the other girl to tell a couple of the other female bully victims about the boy's inappropriate touches in their special places, again a description the girl's mother had used, before having the first girl tell her parents. Meanwhile her excuse for not telling was simply that she was too scared of the boy to tell her own, before reassuring the first girl that she could be a hero if she did.

After that she didn't go to the park. Every kid knew not to go back to the scene of the crime; she didn't want her scapegoat to point her out as the real instigator of the rumor. Still that did not stop her from listening to her mother and her friends to see if her efforts to create a rumor had bared fruit. She didn't even consider it a lie, her mother said that she shouldn't allow anyone to touch her in her 'special' places and her hair was a special place.

It didn't take long for a rumor about something called a pervert was preying on young girls at the park she used to go to. It took even less time for a cry of outrage to come from the public when multiple girls around her age said that they were touched in their special places or weirdly by the bully.

The bully himself would disappear from the park, going to someplace called a prison. When she asked her father about what a prison was he simply said it was a place where bad people go to be punished before telling her to be a good girl.

The truth did eventually come out after one of the girls let slip that the boy had been touching her hair. Sadly by then it was too late. Prison is not kind to child molesters and the boy had been killed sometime during his stay.

As for the girl who started the rumor she would not know of the consequences of her actions, all she would know is that the bully had disappeared. Though she did not know it at the time this would be the start of an ambition to control all aspects of her life. She would desire to become the architect of rumors, the keeper of secrets, and the kingpin of blackmail.

* * *

As time passed the girl acquired more friends, more secrets, and learned the meaning of more words. Words like money, honor, fear, even hygiene all words that can change the perceptions of society. No longer did she rely on sexuality when she spread rumors, now she had begun to develop a subtlety to it; a skill that she got a lot of practice with as she managed the day to day rumors and gossips of her friends.

More importantly she learned the value of her own name and clan. She was Ino Yamanaka, the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan, one of the moderately smaller clans of Konoha and she began to learn their history.

She learned that while her clan wasn't famous for their strength they were feared for their mind jutsus, that the members of her clan typically were interrogators or infiltrators. She also learned that while their positions in the modern shinobi world had changed them that her clan still remained a low casualty rate in the field. This lead her to wonder why her clan was so small compared to others when other clans fought on the front lines.

This question would lead to her learning her family's darkest secret, a secret known only to her clan and select members of the government. Members like the Hokage. The Yamanaka clan also made up most of the traitors of Konoha.

The mind jutsu of her clan allowed the Yamanaka to experience the memories of others from their perspective, with their feelings, they were for those moments both one person and two people. It was the drawback of the clan's jutsu, if a memory or emotion was strong enough and the Yamanaka in the person's head didn't have strong enough emotions or willpower to overcome the other consciousness, it infects them, changes them. It's why the Yamanaka don't start interrogations with mind jutsu unless it's a last resort and why they didn't waste their time on civilians. The Yamanaka were also very self-policing of their members, preferring to kill their own and keep their secrets.

To protect themselves Yamanakas typically have strong personalities and loyalties, sometimes going to the extremes to express themselves. Yamanakas also usually have large families, as deaths amongst their members because they visited the wrong memory or even went mad were not quite common but not exactly rare. Ino herself actually had an aunt at one point that used to babysit her before she had been killed.

Still Ino was confident in herself and once she learned the basic mind jutsu she began to practice. At first she would dive into animals to spy on others and partly to enjoy the feeling of flight when she took over a bird. Later she would dive into people and inspect their memories. Occasionally she would use these memories to blackmail others.

When she entered Konoha Academy her personality could be out there at times and even demanding, but retained curiosity. Still when she entered she continued her habits and found incriminating information on some of the teachers. Part of this she found out was because of an old policy the second Hokage had put into the academy as putting in fake evidence for students to blackmail teachers with. It was a hidden lesson in the academy for the more covert types that hadn't been phased out with the advent of the modern shinobi.

However not all of the evidence was fake and she found herself blackmailing several teachers, learning when pop quizzes would happen and what they would be on, setting up matches for sparring practice, and sometimes to set herself up for failure to throw off suspicion.

Once her class hit puberty she even found that she could use her looks to get what she wanted. During survival training when they had to cook with ingredients they find, she wasn't sure if what she made had poisonous ingredients, yet a bat of her eyes and a slight glimpse at the opening of her shirt in the hopes of sneaking a peak when she bent over slightly and she had some poor boy test her food for her. It had actually been poisonous and she was able to save her grade. It was amazing what she could get just by flirtation and subtle glimpses. She didn't reveal anything but boys had no trouble letting their imagination attempt to fill the blanks

It was also during her beginning years at the academy that she encountered Naruto Uzumaki. The boy had been buying various poisonous plants all over town, she might not have noticed it if he hadn't come to her shop several times over multiple weeks to buy several of them while she was there. She would also admit that her natural curiosity had also caused her to look into it.

Naruto was descended from giants in the shinobi world. His father, a Hokage who could kill dozens in a flash with his hirashin while his mother, Kushina Uzumaki was a legend in and of herself, a Hokage candidate and said to be able to be nearly undefeatable with her chains, healing, and seals. She could not understand how a boy from that parentage could embrace the subtle arts and it drew her.

Over time she actually found herself becoming his friend and she could say she genuinely liked him, though she retained her curiosity. It was actually why she gave him azaleas for his garden since they were a poisonous flower and why she said he wasn't a rose person. She wanted to see if her friend followed the Clan Wars Era ideals over that of the modern shinobi.

Now she had an in to see Naruto's garden and test her theory on the poisons it held. It wouldn't confirm if he followed the old ways but it would be one step closer to solving the mystery of Naruto. After that she would kick back and enjoy the festival with him and Hinata. She would make sure to tease the young Hyuga as well.

She wasn't just a nosy blackmailer or gossip; she could have fun as well. Plus teasing was part of her personality; it helped her come back as herself whenever she made a mind dive.

**That's right Ino is the rival in this story. I couldn't actually use Sasuke since I can't imagine him being subtle, even the one in this story. So the task fell on Ino, yeah Shino probably could have done it but I wanted Ino. **

**Before anyone asks, no, Ino and Naruto don't know about each other's extra-curricular activities. Naruto doesn't know Ino's a blackmailer or her control of secrets while Ino doesn't know about Naruto's underworld activities. Also Ino for now is only based in Konoha and does not have subordinates.**

**I hope you liked the progression of Ino's character through this chapter and that you will enjoy the unique rivalry I plan to create between the two.**

**Also I gave the Yamanaka clan a weakness that I haven't seen done before so lets see how that works out (the weakness is not a guarantee that Ino will go rogue). I kind of plan to give each of the clans their own weakness, some might be cliché but I hope others are unique like the one I plan to give the Uchiha (who very much need a weakness, what can't the sharingan do again?). **

**For now I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Also please review.**


	11. Chapter 11: The Festival

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**I underestimated the workload of the holiday season but here is the next chapter as promised. Also I am happy to announce that I will be focusing on this story for awhile.**

**Additional note 12-31-2015: I am sad to report another death. This holiday season has been rough so I advise all who read my stories to look to your loved ones and give them a hug and tell them that you love them because you never know when they might leave you.**

**So I got my first real flamer and to them I only say why did you read up to chapter five if you hated my story?**

**But they did bring up something I will address. You may skip this if you wish. **

**First the reason certain canon events happen despite Kushina being alive. Well Kushina was occupied. She wasn't able to take on the more difficult missions because she was raising a baby and she didn't trust most people with her jinchuriki son. Add this to establishing connections outside of Fire Country while trying to maintain her property in Konoha, as well as being a clan head, and well Kushina was unlikely to be in the field.**

**Of course the Uchiha Incident was changed. It happened earlier and more people died, as well as more members of the Uchiha Clan surviving. Other incidents like the assassination of the Land of Tea's noble are of my own creation. **

**Finally, according to the timeline of my story, the Third World War ended two years before the Kyubi Attack. No one wants a war this soon after that war came to an end. You can look at our own history after WWI to see the reluctance for another war, with the various diplomatic agreements and excuses that took place during the rise of Hitler's Germany in the hope that WWII wouldn't happen. You can say I am borrowing a little bit from that.**

**The Second issue brought up was Kushina's death. I read over it and I stand by it. Kushina is undersupplied and outnumbered. In the initial ambush she becomes disoriented by the explosive tags and tries to escape what she assumes are a large number of Kiri hunter nin. She is then poisoned and her Shinigami gift begins to heal it but she is not immune so she still suffers from the poison, slowing her down. She then limits her options by not going to the water (1 of her affinities) and instead away from it thinking that the Kiri ninja would have the advantage (again she doesn't know it is Konoha). This lead to another trap which leads to more explosives which damage her legs (the bones are nearly broken), her healing is now working on both the poison and her wounds. Her evasion tactics also didn't work because of the Kikaichu in her hair. After that she was captured by the Nara's jutsu and killed. Also consider how far she had to travel to reach the Land of Tea and that Konoha had plenty of time to plan the ambush since they knew where she would be. Also she was only prepared for basically a C rank mission.**

**Whew done. Anyway here is the next chapter. Oh I couldn't find anything on the technology level of the Elemental Nations since it seems to be all over the place. So I am saying that the technology is similar to ancient Japan, so basically no electricity. Except for certain exceptions all futuristic (see modern world) technology will be said to be caused by seals. I most likely will remove computers, I think I saw one or two in the series, but I could be wrong.**

Chapter 11: The Festival

Naruto awoke the next day as a stray beam of light hit his face from the window. Groaning the boy moved into a sitting position and looked out the window, taking in the sunny day with few clouds, a perfect day for the Festival of the Sage.

Examining the position of the sun Naruto grumbled to himself as he slid out of his bed and began his morning rituals. "I overslept."

Finished with his morning rituals Naruto goes to grab one of his training robes so that he could practice his taijutsu's katas before stopping himself and instead turning back towards the bathroom to bathe. Ino and Hinata would arrive at 1000 and he had awoken at 0800 he did not have time to practice his taijutsu and prepare for their arrival.

After bathing Naruto once more entered his room and looked through his clothing before picking out a more formal kimono of the Uzumaki Clan, a clan head kimono that he had had commissioned. The kimono top like his robes was white with red accents. Though unlike his robes, the kimono top bore the signature swirl of the Uzumaki clan on its shoulders. For pants he wore a grayish white hakama. Completely the kimono was a white haori that bore the Uzumaki swirl on its back.

At the footwear Naruto hesitated. He didn't like wooden geta, they made too much noise for his liking. However it was also considered bad form to wear nontraditional clothing for the Festival of the Sage. If he wore ninja sandals instead of the geta it would say he didn't trust Konoha with his protection.

_"Sometimes I hate political nuances." _Naruto thought as he gave a heavy sigh.

Naruto however perked up as he reminded himself that if he wished to interact with the nobility one day he would have to grow use to walking and wearing geta. The nobility didn't like it when they couldn't hear their guests walking around them.

Exiting his bedroom Naruto headed towards the center of his clan compound that still maintained the original temple and maintained the appearance of a room of study or meditation room with an assortment of seals around the room. The seals themselves were just a collection of storage seals combined with relay seals that Naruto had combined in the Uzumaki style, making the seals themselves appear as decorative drawings to non-Uzumaki. Once an Uzumaki applied spiritual energy into the seal it would do one of two things, either release its contents and turn the room into a temple for the Shinigami, or seal their contents and turn the room into what it currently appeared as, a room of study and meditation. For lack of inspiration Naruto had regretfully called the Uzumaki seal the Room Adjustment seal.

Touching his hand to the seal painted in plain sight next to the entrance Naruto pushed spiritual energy into the seal and watched as the room changed before his eyes. The tables and mats lining the floor were sucked down and replaced with pillows for sitting. The walls once empty except for the occasional artwork were filled with the tenants of the Shinigami, with one wall being dedicated to the masks that had originally been housed in this building. Finally, on one side of the room, the shrine for the Shinigami appeared with a smaller shrine by its side, the same shrine that Naruto and his kaa-san had used in his old home.

Sitting down onto one of the pillows Naruto turned towards the shrine and said a prayer before activating his sensor and meditating. While his sensor wouldn't tell him when the girls arrived since his range of one hundred yards in any direction wouldn't allow him to detect the front entrance of his compound he figured he could practice making the technique subconscious while he organized his thoughts, especially since he had been unable to fit in his morning taijutsu practice and he didn't trust himself not to fall into what his kaa-san called an Uzumaki trance, otherwise known as getting lost in fuinjutsu study.

However it was not long before Kushina decided to interrupt her eleven year old son's meditation. **"Are you ready for today?"**

"Yes kaa-san." Naruto answered.

**"Good. Do you remember what we talked about last night?"** Kushina continued.

"Hai kaa-san, I remember. It does explain some of Hinata-san's actions. Though you couldn't tell me what Ino-san is thinking, just that she was curious about me." Naruto said with a tone of fake accusation. Naruto didn't mention how the discussion about girls had caused him to examine his own feelings with Ayame and made him slightly nervous and confused about why he was nervous about interacting with the sixteen year old girl, a girl he had known since he was six.

**"Well girls are complicated. I only gave you a cheat guide."** Kushina huffed back.

"I was only teasing kaa-san." Naruto thought back after he heard Kushina huff in his mindscape, while stifling a laugh at ruffling his mother's feathers. He thought he was beginning to get a hand of this teasing thing.

Meanwhile inside of the mindscape Kushina smiled. She had caught her son's tease but went along with it. She was just happy that he was loosening up around the people he trusted. In her eyes it wasn't good for her baby boy to be so wound up.

** "Then I have only one more thing to say. Have fun."** Kushina exclaimed happily from inside of the seal. She remembered the Festival of the Sage from when she was younger and though she didn't like the religious parts of the festival, she had loved the atmosphere. Some of her best memories were made at the festival with her friends and loved ones.

_"Hai kaa-san. But I will also…"_ Naruto began before he was interrupted.

**"But nothing. Today is about fun. No business, no plotting, no important stuff, just fun. And you are going to have it sochi-kun."** Kushina said sternly. It was time for her son to enjoy himself and the festival was a great excuse to have fun.

"_Hai kaa-san. I plan to have fun. However the festival would be a great time to make connections."_ Naruto said. Naruto did not have much longer before he graduated from Konoha Academy and he wanted his position in the village secure before the vultures came.

"**Remember what I taught you." **Kushina chastised softly.

"_You taught me that if I wished to be a leader then I must consider my words and actions carefully. That they could make or break a leader."_ Naruto replied back, referencing his mother's lessons on politics. Lessons that Kushina herself had to learn in her quest to become Hokage. It had been a difficult lesson for her teenage self, back when she could still consider herself an innocent child having fun.

"**Don't get smart with me. I was talking about my lesson about the Festival of the Sage."** Kushina said in a motherly tone.

"_You said that political business and deal making is looked down upon at the Festival of the Sage."_ Naruto replied.

"**That's right. The only business conducted at the festival are the merchant stands and dignitaries getting drunk before they resume business the day after…well probably the day after that because of the hangover. Anyway if you want to build alliances you are going to have to do it the normal way. Make friends." **Kushina said with a slight laugh at the hangover part. She could remember the day after well, as long as she was careful and didn't drink too much her Uzumaki healing would allow her to avoid the hangover from the previous night and allow her to have the occasional bit of fun with her hungover friends.

"_So I should just have fun?"_ Naruto asked mentally. It was a concept that had unfortunately become outside of his comfort zone after the death of his kaa-san. He was always building connections, expanding the Uzumaki business, looking for other members of his clan, or laying the ground work for future manipulations. His relationship with Ayame had been formed mostly through the girl herself tearing down his walls, while his other friendships were more like happy accidents on his path to revitalizing the Uzumaki clan and getting justice for what happened to his clan in the past. The idea of just going into public and having fun, it was unnerving to the young redhead.

"**Hai."** Kushina said while hiding the sadness in her tone. She knew that Naruto was happy with his life and that he needed to grow up fast but it was moments like these that reminded her that her child would likely never experience the carefree childhood she had hoped for him.

"_Very well kaa-san… But I will make sure to not embarrass the Uzumaki Clan."_ Naruto responded.

Inside of the seal Kushina laughed at her son's response. Her son may have said he wouldn't embarrass their clan but she knew what he was really saying, he wouldn't embarrass himself. It was the fear all children his age had, it was always nice to see some of her son's childlike characteristics.

Naruto continued to work on his sensor ability for another thirty minutes before rising from his position on the floor and pushing some of his spiritual energy into the Room Adjustment Seal. With the Shinigami shrine once more hidden he left the room and headed towards the kitchen. The girls would arrive soon, very soon if they came early.

Entering the kitchen took in the cabinets, the island in the center, the hanging basket of fruit, and even the chakra powered appliances like his fridge and oven. Grabbing a tea pot he took some fresh green tea leaves and set about making a fresh pot of tea for his guests.

Once the tea was set he grabbed some cheese, fruit, and vegetables and began to cut them up for a platter for the girls and him to eat off of before the festival. The food was light so they wouldn't spoil the festival but it would allow them something to snack on.

Idly his mind wondered as his hands blurred through the practiced motions of wielding a knife, the actions very similar to holding a kunai. Paying little heed that his practiced movements with the knife would enthrall civilians as he swiftly cut the items he had chosen. Instead his mind turned towards the kitchen.

The appliances were chakra powered allowing for chakra to be turned into an electrical current and be used for cooking or for the storage of food. The appliances themselves could be used without the seals but would not be able to be used in the modern way, instead requiring wood for burning or ice to keep food cool. The seals themselves were generic seals that allowed for the owners to use their own chakra to power them.

Naruto himself disliked the simplistic chakra conversion seals not because of their utility but because their use announced the presence of a chakra user to any sensor in the area. As such he usually cooked his meals the traditional way, sometimes suffering from his own stubbornness.

Naruto cringed as he remembered his last cooking mishap. His cooking was not great, acceptable, but not great.

Once Naruto was finished cutting the assorted vegetables, fruits, and the slight bit of cheese, he grabbed a few slices and ate them before grabbing the pot of green tea, some cups, and the platter of food and headed towards the garden in front of his compound. Ino and Hinata would be arriving soon.

Reaching a table in the garden Naruto set down what he was carrying before moving towards the gate, taking care to avoid ruining his kimono as he walked. The girls were not registered in his security seals, in fact only Naruto was registered in his security seals. They would not be able to get in without his assistance.

Naruto did not have to wait long for Ino to arrive with Hinata trailing slightly behind her, the Hyuga's posture showing a sense of nervousness as she got closer to the Uzumaki Compound. Naruto silently thanked his mother for her talk last night. If she hadn't given it to him then he might have embarrassed himself wondering why Hinata was so nervous and whether or not the girl might be sick. Instead he now knew about Hinata's crush on him, something that may be useful to him in the future.

"Hi Naruto-san. You ready to show us your garden?" Ino asked as she waited for Naruto to open the gate to his compound.

"Hello Ino-san, Hinata-san it is a pleasure to see you. If you would just step back." Naruto said politely, ignoring his mother's small grunt of annoyance at his formality. It wasn't his fault that he was raised this way, it took some time for him to loosen up.

The girls took a step back as Naruto walked up to the gate and placed his hand on his clan's crest, a swirling whirlpool, before using his Uzumaki given spiritual energy to unlock the gate.

While Naruto was doing this Hinata shyly spoke up as the gate began to open. "It's a pleasure to see you too Naruto-kun." Beside her Ino smiled mischievously. She was going to enjoy teasing the young Hyuga, it was her job as Hinata's best female friend she reasoned to herself.

With the gate open the girls quickly let themselves in before Naruto pulsed his chakra through one of the gate's supports and the gates snapped closed.

"I have some tea and snacks if you would like." Naruto kindly offered. He knew that the tea would calm Hinata down. It was always a relaxing drink for the young Hyuga and had been key in Ino and Naruto's efforts to make the girl less shy.

Ino smiled knowing what Naruto was doing before answering. "That would be lovely." With that said Ino began to lead the way her strong personality causing her to lead the way while Naruto and Hinata followed behind her.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said from beside Naruto as they walked.

"It's no trouble Hinata-san. I like to make the people I care about happy." Naruto said kindly as he walked beside the girl.

Hinata froze for half a second and blushed a deep red before turning her head away from Naruto and walking once more, the girl's mind having conjured a more romantic meaning to Naruto's words.

In front of the two Ino held in a bark of laughter as she eavesdropped on her friends. Sometimes Naruto's kind formality and Hinata's shy crush on the boy could allow her the best entertainment.

Seeing that Hinata was embarrassed Naruto turned his attention to Ino before calling out. "Ino-san, you're going the wrong way. The tea is in the center of the garden, not the house."

Ino froze as a small embarrassed flush came to her face before she composed herself and turned around. "Well then Naruto-san, lead the way."

Ino made a show of stepping aside as Naruto lead the girls to the table he had set the tea and platter on. Reaching the table he pulled out the chairs for Ino and Hinata and sat down on the other side of the table.

As Hinata sat down she looked amazed at the plants around her. In her eyes the garden was beautiful, a fact aided by the Land of Fire's warm weather, allowing for plants who would usually be without flowers this time of the year to be in full bloom. Hinata like Ino and Naruto also loved plants. One of her hobbies was even flower pressing. Perhaps she wasn't a gardener like Ino and Naruto but she kept her own small garden. It was a common interest that helped to get her to open up to her best friend and crush.

Beside her Ino was also amazed, taking note of the beauty of the garden. However she also noticed what it hid. She could see several poisonous flowers. The common hemlock flower, her azaleas, irises, the belladonna flower, nightshade, oleander, grevillea, the list went on. She could even see her favorite amongst the garden, jimson weed. There were more non-flowering poisons hidden amongst the garden, but from her knowledge about plants, everything in this garden was poisonous in measuring degrees.

"_This is too much to be a coincidence. Could he be like me and follow the old ways?"_ Ino thought to herself.

"I'm glad you like it." Naruto said as he set down a cup of tea in front of each of the girls.

"Naruto-kun this is incredible." Hinata said in astonishment as she absently accepted the cup of tea.

"Thank you Hinata-san." Naruto said as he preened at the praise inside of his mind. The garden was perhaps his pride and joy, requiring even seals so as to allow some of the plants that weren't exactly native to the Land of Fire to grow.

"It is quite impressive Naruto-san." Ino said as she took a sip of her tea. "In fact your choice in flowers is quite a colorful variety. I would say they would bring the desired reaction from anyone." Ino finished meanifully.

From across the table Naruto's eyes hardened slightly before he answered. "Thank you Ino-san, I like to believe that I have a flower for every occasion. It helps to make a garden varied." Naruto responded with equal meaning.

"_Let's see how you answer Ino-san."_ Naruto thought as he watched the blonde girl.

"Yes a varied garden is great and shows great skill. I follow the same belief in the setup of my own garden but if you had to pick just one, which would it be." Ino answered while allowing a hidden omission into the conversation.

Naruto nodded slightly as he examined Ino's words before answering. "I would have to say the delphinium flower. Its beauty seems to capture my soul and steal my breath away. What would you choose if asked?" Naruto answered.

Ino took note of the flower he named and the way he said it. She knew the delphinium flower, it was a beautiful flower that was both cardio-toxic and had neuromuscular blocking abilities. It had some other unpleasant effects as well. More pointedly the flower was also fatal. By the way Naruto described the flower he clearly knew the effects.

"I think I would have to pick the datura stromonium.." Ino said as she pointedly took a sip of tea while making sure to keep her eyes locked on Naruto's.

"It's quite a nice flower and its fragrance has even given me some pleasant dreams. It just puts my mind at ease. I'm not sure why but it has a calming effect and I can't seem to take my eyes off them sometimes." Ino answered just as pointedly as Naruto.

Naruto knew the plant Ino named, he had put into the garden for the exact effects that Ino had alluded to. The plant more commonly known as jimson weed was known for causing distorted vision, delirium, abnormal thirst, coma, and even death. Naruto had a feeling she knew exactly what she was saying and doing when she answered his question.

"That is a great choice in flower Ino-san." Naruto answered with a more serious smile on his face.

"Thank you Naruto-san, I quite like yours as well." Ino answered with the same smile on her face.

Beside the two Hinata felt confused. There seemed to be a deeper meaning to their words but she could not understand what she had missed.

Naruto seeing her confusion quickly derailed Hinata's thoughts by asking her a question. "Hinata-san what is your favorite flower?"

"Lilacs. I just love the stems of flowers that lilacs have. I even made a couple bookmarks from them… though you don't seem to have any here." Hinata answered while taking note of the absence of her favorite flower.

As Hinata rose her cup of tea to her lips and Naruto began to refill his cup before he answered Hinata's question, Ino got a mischievous smile on her face. Carefully watching the cup as it reached Hinata's lips.

"So Naruto-san don't you think Hinata-chan looks amazing." Ino announced the moment Hinata's cup reached her lips.

Hinata shocked by Ino's words choked on her tea and spit it out, while Naruto barely stops himself from spilling the tea in his surprise at Ino's question.

"Ino-chan! You can't…You can't just say" Hinata spluttered in embarrassment as she desperately tried to find something to clean the mess with.

"Oh come on Hinata-chan. We dressed up. Naruto-san should be honored that we graced him with our presence. Don't you want to hear how pretty he thinks we are?" Ino teased both Naruto and Hinata.

Ino smiled like the cat that caught the canary as Hinata was now suitably distracted from the conversation that Naruto and she had had. It wouldn't due if the Hyuga heiress discovered her friends' shared interest in the art of poisons. Not when Ino just found someone else belonging to Clan Wars Era mentality for being a shinobi.

Naruto composed himself before answering Ino's question while Hinata in the eye. "Hinata-san does look rather lovely this evening."

Naruto said as he took careful note of the cream white kimono Hinata was wearing. The kimono itself had the Hyuga family crest on the back. It also had trails of fire in the shape of petals dancing from the right shoulder of the kimono to the hem of Hinata's left side. As a stray thought Naruto noticed that while the kimono wasn't too tight on the girl so as to be improper, it was tight enough to show that Hinata's body had matured more than Ino's had.

While Hinata's face turned hot enough to cook on, Naruto turned towards Ino and continued. Taking in Ino's appearance, Naruto noticed that the Yamanaka heiress was wearing a purple kimono that like Hinata had her clan's symbol on the back. Her kimono like Hinata's was also tight but loose enough to avoid the obscene. Her sleeves however were different, being long enough to hide her hands if she should wish while at the same time showing them off if she desired. It would allow Ino to hide objects or poisons if she wished without being suspicious. Finally Ino had a design of white vine like flowers traveling across her kimono in a similar fashion as Hinata's.

"Of course Ino-san looks quite beautiful as well." Naruto said with a smile towards Ino, making sure that he maintained eye contact with the blonde girl.

"_Kaa-san was right. Looking a woman in the eye when you compliment them seems to be very effective."_ Naruto thought as he took in the red faces of the two girls.

"_He was supposed to get flustered. Not turn it back on me."_ Ino thought as she turned away from Naruto with a flushed expression. She had been embarrassed by the sincerity in the boy's statement.

Ino composed herself before turning to Naruto and giving him a once over before speaking. "I think Hinata-chan and I can agree that Naruto-san looks handsome." Ino said with a coquettish smile, her previous efforts to manipulate boys her age having taught her how to fluster them and get them to do as she wished.

"Ino-chan!" Hinata said scandalized at Ino's words to her crush. Hinata sometimes didn't know how she became close friends with the teasing and confident girl when she herself was quite shy. Still even though Ino's actions sometimes embarrassed her Ino was a true friend.

While Hinata began to softly lecture the girl on her behavior Naruto forced a blush down. He was not used to any form of seduction being used on him, something he made a note to work on. He hadn't put much thought into anti-seduction techniques since his sensor ability could pick up emotions.

"Oh come on Hinata-chan, between the three of us, no one will be able to take their eyes off of us." Ino said with a happy tone while watching as Hinata's face turned even redder.

"Ino-chan, I don't want to be the center of attention." Hinata said shyly with a slight whine in her voice.

"Hinata-chan you'll be fine. You're one of the prettiest girls in our class." Ino said encouragingly.

"Ino-san is right. Now perhaps it is time that we head out to the festival." Naruto said as he decided to save Hinata from Ino's teasing.

Naruto stood up and began to collect the dishes.

"Your right, let's go have some fun." Ino said as she stood as well and grabbed a dish to help Naruto clean up.

From behind Ino, Hinata gave a thankful smile to Naruto. She knew that when Ino got into teasing her that she sometimes wouldn't stop until her face had overheated from its blush. Still Hinata wouldn't trade her friends for the world. They made her more confident and were always there for her when she needed it.

"_Even if it means being teased or getting embarrassed by their actions and treatment, I wouldn't trade them for the world."_ Hinata thought to herself as she got up to help Ino and Naruto with the dishes.

With the dishes done the trio quickly left the compound and began to take the walk back into the village proper. Neither moving quickly or slowly, they just enjoyed each other's presence as they walked.

It was not long till they reached their destination, taking in the bright colored stalls, the children playing games, and the adults milling around laughing. Further in events and contests were being held for civilians, ninja, and even the occasional samurai visiting Konoha for the festival. All over the street were streamers and lanterns. The village had really decked itself out for the festival.

Allowing himself Naruto found himself floating between food stands and games. He even found himself in a dance with Hinata when his sensor failed to pick up hostile intent when Ino pushed him good naturedly into Hinata, who stumbled with him in her arms onto the dance floor.

He didn't know the dance but it didn't seem like the dance mattered since he noticed several different dances going on as the people danced in joy. So making sure not to embarrass himself he used the dancing lessons he had from his mother and danced. It seemed that learning to dance by correcting his clones as they danced with each other under his mother's instructions paid off as after his dance with Hinata was over Ino swept herself into his arms and they began anew.

They stayed there for awhile having fun, trading partners after each dance. With Ino even making Hinata dance with her. After they finished dancing they decided to get a drink trying some of the exotic fruit drinks that weren't often seen in the village.

Eventually Hinata stopped as they reached a small theater.

"Hey how about we watch the play?" Hinata asked as she looked over the schedule while managing to forget her shyness in her excitement and happiness from the festival.

Naruto looked up at the sun and saw that they still had a few hours before Ayame's shift ended. They would have time for a quick play. "Sure. We have time." Naruto answered.

"Sounds fun." Ino said.

"Great. There's one starting soon. If we hurry then we can get good seats." Hinata said excitedly. Her mother used to take her to plays before she died. Ever since then plays have held a special place in her heart.

Reaching for the door Naruto suddenly braced himself as he sensed Ino's sudden movement towards him, the blonde girl wrapping her arms around his and leaning into his side. "Well Naruto looks like your escorting us to the theater."

Ino smiled as she noticed Naruto's blush from her actions before she reached over and grabbed Hinata, dragging the Hyuga into Naruto's other arm. "You'll take care of us right?" Ino continued impishly.

Hinata turned a very bright crimson as she hid her face in the crook of Naruto's arm, only managing to make her blush more pronounced as she realized where she hid her face.

Naruto decided to ignore Ino's actions as he walked into the theater. He also decided to ignore his mother's laugh from inside of his head. Naruto knew that Kushina rather liked Ino's attitude, didn't stop her from advising him to be careful around the Yamanaka, but Kushina still liked the girl.

As for Ino she sighed happily to herself, she had finally managed to break Naruto's expression and get a true embarrassed blush from the boy. Ino knew she seemed to be an outgoing tease but this was how she came back every time she used the Yamanaka techniques. Strong personalities centered them, kept them from losing themselves. It's why she acted the way she did, making sure that she strongly exemplified her personality traits. It was why her social personality was like this, though she had a professional side to her as well, one that was much more serious with a mix of teasing.

The trio took their seats in one of the balconies, something that was afforded to them due to their own status in the village. It allowed them to avoid the crowded floor where most of the theaters guests were.

Soon the windows were covered and unnoticed by the Hinata Ino and Naruto tensed, both readying themselves for a trap. Their beliefs in the Clan Wars Era mentality not allowing them to like the dark.

"The Festival of the Sage, a time of happiness and joy, but why do we celebrate this day? Let me tell you." A voice said.

Soon the stage lit up as candles were strategically lit and their light focused to act as spotlights. A couple ran across began to run across the stage, a baby held closely to the woman's breast.

"Long ago the Dark One ruled the world. A malicious and evil creature, the Dark One knew no end to its cruelty and did not allow any to escape its grasp." The voice continued as a shadowed figure appeared over the stage with a pair of horns and red eyes.

"Run. I will try to buy you time." The man said as he gave the woman a light push and turned to fight the emerging shadow.

"However this was not the time of man, this was the time of the Dark One, a time of demons, a time before chakra." The voice said again.

The shadowed figure lashed out with its hand and a jet of what appeared to be fire hit the man and the man fell before the shadow performed a shunshin and caught up to the woman before slashing at her with its hand and the woman fell, barely managing to conceal the baby. The shadow gave a small but deep laugh before it used the shunshin once more and disappeared.

Hinata held her breath as she enjoyed the show from the theater. She had heard that this theater had actors and actresses that knew how to use at least the basics of chakra. She was happy to see that what she had heard was true.

"The Dark One was without conscious and killed all who crossed it. Sparing neither man, woman, or child. But one day there was a survivor, a mere baby who would have the strangest luck." The voice of the narrator spoke once more.

Suddenly music started as a soft melody of string instruments filled the air.

A woman with long hair and rabbit ears began to take the stage and walked towards the baby. "Shh little one don't cry." The woman said as she picked the baby off of the ground and began to sing it a soft lullaby.

"The baby would be found by the rabbit goddess, Tsukino Usagi. The goddess would take the baby and raise it as her own. Giving the baby her blood, she would teach him the ways of the gods and grant him a portion of her power."

The stage darkened for a second before it showed an older child and the rabbit eared woman as she taught him to read and later to fight. They even showed him using a flash of lightning and a sword.

"Eventually the boy had grown up and become a man and decided to see the world." The Narrator spoke.

The scene changed as a sakura tree appeared with the rabbit goddess giving a now grown man a hug.

"Be careful my sochi. The Dark One is ever watchful and not even I can oppose the Dark One's wrath. Be careful to avoid its wrath." The woman said tearfully as melody of sad music played through the air.

"I will kaa-san. I will never forget you. Who knows maybe I will bring a bride home." The man said with a smile before he waved and ran off.

"The man sheltered from the world by his mother was not ready. He witnessed atrocity after atrocity." The narrator spoke.

The music turned dark as the stage showed the man traveling from place to place, coming across destroyed villages and ruined landscapes, the images of fires and desperation highlighting his journey.

"But the man was kind and did what he could for those he found."

The scene changed as the music continued but now to a more sad sound as it showed the man burying the dead in a rather large graveyard by himself and giving a little girl some food.

"Eventually the man decided to confront the cause of the people's suffering despite his mother's wishes and came across a minion of the Dark One."

Once more the stage changed and the music became faster paced as the stage now showed the man facing off against what would only be called a demon. Behind him a family cowered.

"Go back to where you come from foul beast." The man intoned.

"Silly human, as if you could oppose me, I will just kill you all." The demon bellowed.

The demon began to attack as the man desperately fought it with his sword. The two putting on a display of thrusts, parries, and slashes before the sword was knocked from the man's hands.

With the man now unarmed and seemingly defenseless the demon lunged for him only for the man to throw lightning from his hands and electrocute the demon to death.

"After a pitched fight the minion of the Dark One was defeated. The man had saved the family and the rumors of what the man had done and his mysterious powers would bring hope to the world. However these rumors would attract the Dark One."

The stage now showed random people smiling and saying that the end of the Dark One was coming. The music showing a sense of happiness as it continued to follow the man as he saved more and more people from the Dark One's minions. However the music took on a dark tune as the dark one appeared hovering in the background, tracking the man.

"Eventually the Dark One's minions would corner the man and the great army would battle against the man and those who now followed him. They would win but at great cost."

The scene changed to show a battlefield strewn with the corpses, both demon and human. The man would be in front of several more people, each armed with weapons as they cheered for their great victory. The music in the background was once more triumphant.

Suddenly the shadow of the Dark One appeared once more and the people began shoving the man back, telling him to run. With a heavy heart the man turned and ran from the battle.

The scene changed once more to the man standing on a mountain as he watched the Dark One kill those who followed him. In the background the music took on a more somber note.

"The man knew he could not defeat the Dark One at the time and was forced to flee as his followers bought him time and with the Dark One's victory hope was crushed. It seemed like no one could stop the Dark One from destroying the world."

The stage now showed the Dark One as its shadow spread over several tiny villages that erupted into flame as the Dark One's shadow touched it.

"The man studied the Dark One for a weakness and eventually found something that could defeat the Dark One, the Shinigami. But the Shinigami had no interest in the affairs of man, caring only for the deaths that empowered its realm. It cared little if the Dark One destroyed the world and the Shinigami's servants sent the man away."

The stage reflected the narrator's words as it showed the man reading through scrolls before coming across a scroll with the picture of the Shinigami on it. The stage then showed a throne of skulls with skeletal servants around the man sitting on the throne. The son of the rabbit goddess approached the throne and begged the man on the throne for help only for the man to laugh and have his servants send him away.

"Shocked at the Shinigami's callous nature the man had no choice but to steal from the god. Sneaking into the Shinigami's chambers the man stole part of the Shinigami's power and fled into the night. Unnoticed to the man his eyes became ringed once he absorbed the power he had stolen."

The scene changed to show the man sneaking around the Shinigami's throne room as the Shinigami and its servants slept before putting his hands over the Shinigami and a mist began to form between the two. Once enough of the mist had formed over the hands it dispersed slowly, seeming to sink into the man's skin. Afterwards it the stage showed the man fleeing with his eyes now shining with circles in them.

"The Shinigami enraged by the theft sent his servants after the man but they were repelled by the man. The man's blood from his mother and the power of two gods ascended him from the Shinigami's reach; it had made him a god."

The scene changed to the skeletal servants of the Shinigami trying to reach the man only for a bright light to repel their efforts.

"With the might of the Shinigami in hand the man set out to fight the Dark One."

The stage now shows the man journey as he looked for the Dark One.

"Then the man found the Dark One and they did battle, savaging the landscape in a battle between gods."

The stage shows the Dark One and the man as they do battle. The man threw lightning around while the Dark One threw fire. Exaggerated explosions and effects sounded as the battle continued and the music that had played throughout the performance matched its intensity.

"Finally the man struck the Dark One down."

The battle reached its climax where the man knocked the Dark One to the ground and struck it with lightning.

"With the fall of the Dark One, its minions fled into the sky."

The stage now showed demon like figures being pulled up to the roof of the playhouse while the man stood over the Dark One's corpse in victory.

"The man would go on to give the power of the gods to mankind and teach them how to wield it before he too would rise into the sky where he continues to do battle with the Dark One's minions, stopping them from ever reviving their master." The narrator continued.

The stage now shows the man on the stage talking to several cloaked individuals. "I give you this power so that mankind may always be safe, so that you may never know fear. I entrust upon you this power so you may protect and care for those that you love."

With those words said the man ascended to the rooftop of the playhouse while those cloaks looked on.

"This man was the Sage of Six Paths, the god of chakra. We celebrate today for it is on the solstice that the Sage of Six Paths defeated the Dark One and it is today that he drives away the minions of the Dark One once more." The narrator concludes.

The stage lights up once more as the actors and actresses take the stage and give a bow to the cheers of the crowd.

"Thank you. Thank you. We are glad you enjoyed the show." One of the men on the stage says, his voice identifying him as the narrator.

Naruto politely clapped as Hinata excitedly talked about the play. It had been a great play, the chakra effects being very well done and the music matching the mood perfectly.

Naruto meanwhile carefully hid his opinion. He knew that those who worshipped the Sage of Six Paths considered the Shinigami a dark god because of this legend that the Shinigami hated and tried to stop the Sage of Six Paths after he refused to help the sage. Which would mean that the skeletal figures that the sage defeated were the Uzumaki clan, something that was luckily not included in the myth.

Inside of the seal Naruto could hear his kaa-san grunt in annoyance at the play. Like Naruto she couldn't really enjoy the play since it was about the Sage of Six Paths and painted the Shinigami in a bad light, especially since it was by the Shinigami, the god they worshipped, that the two Uzumaki were reunited.

Leaving the theater with the happy girls the two would head over to the Ichiraku ramen stand to pick up Ayame. There they would eat ramen and talk about the festival while Ayame would gossip with the girls while at the same time getting Naruto to open up.

Afterwards the two would visit the Nara petting zoo and encounter the horde of loud children. Ino would smother a laugh each time she looked at the Nara men as they worked at the petting zoo.

During this time Naruto would sit beside Ayame as she pet a baby deer, a smile once more a permanent feature on his face, as he enjoyed the moment of peace with his best friend as well as the other girls.

Eventually the group would leave the petting zoo before once more hitting the stands where the group would play games and Ayame would shockingly beat the group in a balancing competition with her being able to balance more objects on top of each other while holding them in her hands.

"Apparently chef training gives better balance than ninja training." Ayame had told Naruto with a cheeky smile before giving him the stuffed animal she had won from the competition, a simple stuffed bear. Naruto however loved it.

Now Naruto watched as the final event of the day took place before the children were sent home and the adults swarmed the bars. It was also apparently a curfew that Ayame shared as her dad's overprotective urges wanted the young adult home after the event.

Together the group looked on as multiple jutsu were launched into the air. They observed as a dragon of fire danced around a dragon of water. As fireballs exploded in the air into plumes of embers, and lightning danced from suiton jutsu to suiton jutsu. It was a beautiful display that many talented ninjutsu experts participated in, putting on a show for the people of their village.

Looking around Naruto took in the entranced look of his friends before Ayame nudged him.

"Hey are you going to be able to do that one day?" Ayame asked.

"Perhaps." Naruto answered.

"Well when you can, promise me that you will show me." Ayame said quietly as she didn't want to distract Ino and Hinata from the show.

"It's a promise Ayame-chan." Naruto smiled.

Ayame clasped his hand and smiled, "Great. Make sure to be ready, I want you for opening night when I have my own restaurant."

Naruto gave Ayame's hand a slight squeeze before he answered, "With cooking like yours, how could I turn you down."

The two shared a small laugh before turning back to the show, though their hands never let go.

Later at the Uzumaki compound Naruto stripped out of his kimono and put on his bed clothes. Placing the stuffed bear on his bed side table Naruto collapsed onto the bed.

"**So did you have fun?"** Kushina asked from inside of the seal.

"_Yeah. It was fun."_ Naruto answered as stared at the stuffed bear.

Today had been a fun day if a confusing one. He had improved his friendships with Hinata and Ino and had a lot of fun with Ayame. But he had also had his drive behind his actions reaffirmed during the play.

"**Are you alright?"** Kushina asked.

"_I'll be fine kaa-san."_ Naruto answered.

"**Come into the seal tonight. We can sleep together like you did when you were younger."** Kushina suggested.

"_That sounds nice kaa-san."_ Naruto thought back tiredly.

Inside of the seal Kushina held her sleeping son. While she had not personally known the strains of being a double agent because of her jinchuriki status, she knew many of the strains that such agents felt. Due to her rank, her ambition to be Hokage when she was younger, and as Minato's wife, she had seen and heard about many of their troubles. Making friends amongst the other side was not an uncommon problem.

Kushina knew Naruto was a lonely boy so it would remain to be seen how his friends would affect his judgment and his plans.

**Alright that is the end of this chapter; I hope you enjoy what I am calling the cursed chapter. It seemed every time I started this thing something bad happened. It got to the point where a part of me wanted to skip this chapter. On that note I have already started the next one.**

**Oh before anyone says Naruto is beginning to side with Konoha, don't worry he's not, but having friends on Konoha's side can affect his judgment. Will he turn them? Can he? Will he sabotage himself if they are in danger? Could someone use them against him? Could they use their relationship against him? So many possibilities. Plus a character is boring if he is linear, all characters need some form of inner conflict.**

**Anyway I experimented with relationships in this chapter a bit. I had Ino and Hinata work together as a friendship, which I think worked pretty well. I can definitely picture a teasing and outgoing Ino with a shy and at times proper Hinata. I also tried to develop the friendships between the three.**

**Sadly for the Ayame fans she didn't receive as much attention this chapter but I gave you a bear. If it has a deeper meaning well that is for me to know and you to guess about. **

**Anyway the play should answer why people think the Shinigami is a dark god. It also shows how history can become legend or myth in this case.**

**So next chapter should involve more ninja stuff with the (trumpets blaring) graduation. Yes graduation on chapter 12. After that the story will pick up its pace as the world starts turning. Once again there will be a Wave Arc, though expect it to be different from normal.**

**I am asking now but I will likely put up a poll, but would you be interested in more interlude chapters like with the Ino chapter? I have a couple panned like an akatsuki and Sasuke chapter, though some may be unavoidable even if you say no (one or two Ino specific ones to show more of her character and how she becomes/is Naruto's rival). It could give you a deeper idea on what is happening in this universe rather than the focus on Naruto.**

**Anyway thank you for reading. Once again please review and if you have questions I will answer your review or PM if I can without ruining the story for you.**

**PS: All of those poisonous plants and their side effects are real and are not to be used at home. **


	12. Chapter 12: Graduation

I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

"**I am big" God, biju, summon talking**

"I am normal" Human talking

"_You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner_ thoughts of a person

**Well I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day (if your country has it). And in honor of Valenine's Day I give you another chapter of a story about lies, betrayal, and death. Kind of Shakespearian when you think about it. Though I hope none of your Valentine's Day went like it.**

**By the way here are the current ages of the characters.**

**Naruto: 13**

**Rookie 9: 13 - 14**

**Ayame: 18**

**Setsuko Uchiha: 7 almost 8**

**Not 100% sure if I need to include Setsuko but why not.**

**First I want to thank everyone for reading this story. When I started I didn't think that it would become this popular so fast. As I write this it has 897 followers, 721 favorites, and 21 communities. So this is my thanking you for all of your interest and support. I hope that I continue to do right by you.**

**Second, this chapter is short but there is a reason. So please listen. It was as I was writing this that I noticed things that were interesting were past over while other more boring things went into detail. Now that didn't sound right so I went back over the big chapter and began to add details, well that didn't work - too long. So I looked at the chapter and decided there were great moments that needed detail, but a summary was no fun while the rehash of graduation is bleh, so I decided to split it up. **

**Now this led to the problem of where. Since I don't like having short chapters and I want to make every wait worthwhile. Finally, I decided to split it into four different parts: This chapter, the first exam, the second round, and the headband (title subject to change), with this chapter being the shortest.**

**Finally, I want to apologize if my writing hasn't been as up to standard as it usually is. I have had a rough time since the holidays and things are finally starting to settle over here, I actually wrote most of this back then. Currently I plan to go back and edit the last two chapters to make them better but if you have already read them, nothing is going to change plotwise.**

Chapter 12: Graduation

Naruto sat in his classroom as he waited for the class to start so that the last day of the graduation tests could begin. The classroom once filled with dozens of students was now much sparser in its occupants. Some had dropped out over the years and had been placed with the ashigaru for a period of six years. But most had been dropped over the course of the last couple weeks as the graduation exams began, with those who failed to pass the exam to be one of the elite shinobi of the Land of Fire being assigned to the ninja forces outside of Konoha.

It was just as Iruka had warned at the beginning of the academy; there were severe consequences for those who did not pass the academy after the first two years, with the main consequence being conscription into the Land of Fire's ashigaru forces. If they were lucky, their family would have the money to pay off a government official or they would be noticed by a samurai or jounin and be taken as an apprentice.

Today would be the last day of the exams and Naruto was nervous, not about the test. Naruto knew that as Konoha's jinchuriki and the Uzumaki clan head passing the exam was a foregone conclusion. Konoha wanted their jinchuriki being trained for battle while the council wanted to finally be able to make deals with the Uzumaki clan and its businesses.

_ "Most likely to try and take advantage of my youth."_ Naruto thought in regards to the council.

He knew the council would be a threat. Not in the baying for his blood kind of manner. No the council was smarter and more shrewd than that. They would attempt to seize control of his clan or his businesses. Even marry one of their daughters so that they could control or just influence his vote. However Naruto had prepared for this day and only worked to increase his influence over the last two years since the Festival of the Sage.

First Naruto's relationship with the Uchiha clan was still strong as ever. Mikoto still acted as regent for his seat on the council and Sasuke, despite their differences when it came to being a shinobi was still a friend of his. It wasn't unusual for Naruto to eat dinner with the Uchiha clan at least once a week. He even helped teach the Uchiha children occasionally and was taught chakra control by Setsuna and Mikoto Uchiha. Sadly the clan never recovered from the Uchiha Incident. Their numbers remain low with most of the adult shinobi and kunoichi dead, and their influence is little; only their status as a founding clan and their history allowing the clan to keep their status as a major clan.

As for his ambitions, Naruto was still unsure if he would try to turn the Uchiha clan to his side. The Uchiha clan had a special spot in Naruto's heart, as they reminded him of how life used to be before he learned of Konoha's betrayal or his kaa-san's death. He wasn't sure if he could risk their lives for his ambition.

As for his other relationships, they too seemed to be going well. Naruto's unofficial deal with the Aburame clan to sell their silk in the other countries had proven profitable and allowed him to make further inroads to a possible alliance, at least in the matters of the council. As it was, the political alliance between the Aburame and Uzumaki clan would become official after today.

Naruto still wasn't sure about the Hyuga clan as Hinata despite her confidence seemed to be falling out of favor with the clan's leadership and may well lose her status as clan heiress. It seemed that since she was now more confident and an able fighter, she became more vocal in her beliefs about ending the Caged Bird Seal that was put on the branch members of her clan, a position that most of the Hyuga leadership opposed. Hiashi's position on this seemed to be unknown; however Naruto had heard from his sources that a drunk Hyuga of the branch family had managed to say that the leadership of the clan was not as stable as it once was.

Naruto was currently hoping to get a hold of the Caged Bird Seal so that he could find a way to undo it if necessary. The idea of the branch family being loyal to him was appealing. Though a darker part of his mind thought of the chaos a branch family uprising could cause. There was a possibility of another Uchiha Incident if he did it correctly. Naruto was currently content to observe in this case, especially since he didn't yet have the seal.

Another relationship that he had was with the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans. These had been improved since his conversation with Ino had turned their friendship, into something else. Naruto didn't exactly know what to call his relationship with Ino. They were friends, but they danced around each other, since they knew both had the mentality of a Clan Wars era shinobi. They would trade with each other, Ino giving him knowledge of antidotes while Naruto gave some knowledge about seals. But he didn't know how to classify a friendship between two people of the old ninja mentality. They were however closer than before.

However Ino's newfound closeness with him had finally allowed him to get the possibility of an alliance with the Yamanaka clan. Naruto's possible alliance with the Yamanaka clan led to Shikamaru testing his strategic ability with a game of shogi. During the game Naruto managed to challenge Shikamaru before he eventually lost, however his strategic ability seemed to meet the approval of the Nara clan. The result of this game made it so that Naruto now had a chance of getting a possible alliance with the Nara clan. Naruto also received a shogi partner in Shikarmaru, though the two did play other strategy games as well. Finally, Naruto managed to get neutrality out of the Akimichi clan, though bad blood still remained amongst some of the clan's higher ups. Naruto noted that until some of the power in the Akimichi changed hands it was unlikely that he would ever receive more than their neutrality.

Unfortunately while Naruto was able to secure and enhance most of his clan relationships, Naruto still made an enemy in the Inuzuka clan. Naruto did not always get along with Kiba, in fact his mannerisms seemed to get on the wild Inuzuka's nerves. Kiba being the clan head's son had a direct line to Tsume whose wild nature also had little love for the way Naruto held himself. It didn't help that her dog, Kuromaru, didn't like him. For Tsume that was enough for her not to trust Naruto. Apparently Kuromaru had great taste in her mind since he didn't like Danzo or Hiashi, the militaristic councilor and a man who enslaves part of his family.

However Naruto wasn't just working on his political relationships, he was also improving his spy network and economic standing. Naruto now controlled most of the criminal underground in the Land of Fire while maintaining a thriving business. Naruto had also begun to establish himself in River Country, Grass Country, the Land of Waterfalls, and the Land of Rice, while also building upon his mother's connections in the Land of Hotsprings and the Land of Frost.

Currently Naruto was struggling to make inroads into the major lands of Lightning, Wind, and Earth, only succeeding in setting up some small black markets and information trades. The Land of Tea was also turning out to be a problem as the current criminal structure had influence with the ruling government and were fighting every advance he made.

This increase in the territory his influence covered unfortunately caused him some problems. The main problem he had was communication. It had become difficult to pass messages and coordinate his actions. This actually led to one of his greatest failures. The lack of communication had caused trouble and had allowed one of his lieutenants to go rogue. The end result had been him hiring a band of mercenaries and framing a band of bandits for the destruction of the entire town. To solve this problem he had since had Scry Seals installed throughout his businesses and many underground bases as well as taking to raising falcons; which had the dual benefit of allowing him to send personal messages as well as being a respected hobby of the royals of the Land of Fire.

Another problem was that while clan business was a respected right of the Land of Fire, it was suspicious to leave the country too often. For now he could control his transactions and businesses with the use of his scry seals and the surprise personal message from his falcons, but later he will have to visit some of these locations in person. Naruto had already begun to look into how he was going to manipulate the mission distribution office.

Finally Naruto had continued his work in the Land of Water, manipulating both sides of the war as if they were puppets through use of the information he managed to accumulate. During which he had gained a hatred for a man named Zabuza Momochi who had managed an attempt on the Mizukage's life. If Zabuza had succeeded then the war would have been over and Naruto's attempt at controlling a war would be over. To make matters worse for Naruto, a powerful woman called Mei Terumi had also begun to make headway in the war, even surviving the battle he arranged through an 'information leak' to the Mizukage. It did not help that the daimyo of the Land of Water had finally quelled most of the rebellions amongst the islands and was beginning to divert samurai in support of Mei.

He was tempted to bring Akatsuki in to kill her, but such a move was costly and only the daimyo could afford such a move. Since he had thrown his lot in with her, it would only reveal that there was another player in their war. No he would instead try to have Yagura's forces kill her lieutenants. Perhaps the death of the man known as Ao would cripple her momentum. Either way it did not seem like Naruto would have long to silently seize control of more of the country.

As Naruto continued to wait for the next exam he allowed a small smile onto his face. He was ready for the ninja world. Come the council, the Hokage, or even the Daimyo, he was ready. He had the money and power to influence the civilians, the support of multiple clans, and his own spy network. He was ready to swim with the big fish.

It was as Naruto thought these thoughts that he began to recall the tests he had already taken for graduation.

**Alright and that is a wrap. So sorry about the information dump but this was the best place to split the chapter. And for indulging me here is a short preview of the first exam - original version (before split and details were added).**

_ As for the tests thus far, they had been particularly vigorous. During the first week of the exams the students were told only to bring their weapon pouches to class before they were blindfolded and taken into one of the forests of Konoha. There they were told that they would be camping for a week. To make it more difficult, the students would have to avoid enemy patrols, in the forms of unbiased chunin who would fight at a genin level. Finally the students were given the option of attacking enemy supply lines to get more food and water, but the teachers warned that the difficulty would be increased every time a student successfully raided them. Finally the students were also allowed to make alliances or even attack the camps of their fellow student._

**So I hope you could see why I wanted to embellish this test rather than doing the same old graduation. Anyway I hope to see you soon, well write for you soon. Which will actually be soon for once with life settling down.**

**On the subject of pairings, I will write my current thoughts and you can help me narrow them down if you notice something I didn't. Since this is my first story and my flag ship story I really want the pairing to be perfect. So here are my current thoughts. Keep in mind it most likely will be a single pairing (not sure if I can do multiple romances).**

**Konoha girls - most if not all are discounted. Ino, Ayame**

**Kumo girls - they are also out (Kumo kidnapped his mom and attacked the Land of Whirlpools, yeah Naruto doesn't like Kumo)**

**Iwa Girls - also unlikely, even though I love a good KurotsuchixNaruto story (can't think of a way it works here outside of forcing it with politics)**

**Kiri girls - are definitely out (Naruto is helping both the rebels and Yagura - I don't think girls like Mei would like that)**

**Uzumaki - I could go OC, Karin, Kushina **

**Filler girls - surprisingly some of them are doable with the story**

**Reviewer request - Kaguya (I actually like the idea, not sure how it would work, but I like it, I'm just not sure if it works with this story)**

**Quick add on.**

**I forgot Suna girls - This is possible (especially with the history I am giving the Land of Sand) Temari, one the suna filler girls**

**So that limits most possibilities and as the story progresses more of the available girls will be knocked off. This could actually provide a logical opening for a KushinaxNaruto but if it happens it won't happen until by canon timeline (not my timeline) sometime during Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya (this training trip will not happen).**

**I'm actually looking forward to Naruto meeting Haku now. A glance into the consequences of his actions. Imagine the internal conflict.**

**Anyway once more you have been a great audience. Remember to drop a review. Once again if you have questions, I answer my reviews quite commonly as well as my PMs. If enough people ask I will just write the answer with the next chapter. **

**Oh, just a personal curiosity to my foreign readers. I'm not sure if you have Valentine's Day, so my question is - Do you have a holiday like Valentine's Day? (I think Japan has White Day and Valentine's Day)**


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